Surveillance for Ebola Virus in Wildlife, Thailand.

Supaporn Wacharapluesadee,Prateep Duengkae,Gittiyaporn Ieamsaard,Thiravat Hemachudha,Supakarn Kaewchot,Thongchai Kaewpom,Patarapol Maneeorn,Sininat Petcharat,Budsabong Kanchanasaka,Nuntaporn Sittidetboripat,Pierre E Rollin,Phimchanok Srongmongkol,Sangchai Yingsakmongkon,Jonathan S Towner,Kevin J Olival

doi:10.3201/eid2112.150860

Abstract

Surveillance for Ebola Virus in Wildlife, Thailand.

Highlights

To the Editor: Active surveillance for zoonotic pathogens in wildlife is critical when the pathogen has the potential to cause a large-scale outbreak
Ebola virus (EBOV) has historically been viewed as a virus from Africa, recent studies found that bat populations in Bangladesh and China contain antibodies against EBOV and Reston virus recombinant proteins, which suggests that EBOVs are widely distributed throughout Asia [5,6]
We screened 500 Pteropus lylei bats collected from 10 roosting sites during March– June 2014 for antibodies against EBOV antigen by using an ELISA validated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA, USA) [8]

Summary

Introduction

To the Editor: Active surveillance for zoonotic pathogens in wildlife is critical when the pathogen has the potential to cause a large-scale outbreak. EBOV has historically been viewed as a virus from Africa, recent studies found that bat populations in Bangladesh and China contain antibodies against EBOV and Reston virus recombinant proteins, which suggests that EBOVs are widely distributed throughout Asia [5,6]. As part of a proactive biosurveillance program, we conducted a cross-sectional study for EBOV infection in bats and macaques in Thailand.

Results

Conclusion