Marburg Virus in Fruit Bat, Kenya

Ivan V Kuzmin,Wanda Markotter,Charles E Rupprecht,Bernard Agwanda,Sherif R Zaki,Robert F Breiman,Wun-Ju Shieh,Michael Niezgoda,Richard Franka

doi:10.3201/eid1602.091269

Abstract

Marburg Virus in Fruit Bat, Kenya

Highlights

In Kenya, human cases of MARV infection were reported in 1980 and 1987; these occurred after visits to the Kitum Cave at Mount Elgon [7,8]
MARV was detected in tissues of Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) and other bat species from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, and Uganda [3,4,5,6]
Collection protocols were approved by the National Museums of Kenya and by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA, USA)

Summary

Introduction

In Kenya, human cases of MARV infection were reported in 1980 and 1987; these occurred after visits to the Kitum Cave at Mount Elgon [7,8]. MARV was detected in tissues of Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) and other bat species from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, and Uganda [3,4,5,6]. We collected bats from across Kenya during June–July 2007 within the framework of the Global Disease Detection Program, which is dedicated to investigation of emerging pathogens. Collection protocols were approved by the National Museums of Kenya and by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA, USA).

Results

Conclusion