USA Africa Dialogue Series - RE: Animals could spread Ebola to 15 more African countries (Oxford scientists)

How does anyone know for a fact that wild life including fruit bats are the primary vectors for Ebola? In the absence of near certainty of this knowledge, predictions on the role of wildlife in the spread of Ebola is informed speculation at best. Much of what is known about the current Ebola outbreak suggests that person to person contact is the most fertile transmission mechanism.
What would seem to be more helpful immediately is that scientists pay more attention to finding a cure for the disease. Speculation on the spread of the disease is not as urgent. All hands are on deck already in the struggle to minimize the spread of the disease.
Predictive models must also be appreciated with some skepticism. They after all are almost always as good as the assumptions that underlie them.

oa
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From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2014 1:48 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Animals could spread Ebola to 15 more African countries (Oxford scientists)


..... and to the rest of the world? Birds are known to do trans- Atlantic flights.
.How far do bats fly?

GE
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http://www.naturalnews.com/046834_Ebola_Africa_animal_transmission.html
Animals could spread Ebola to 15 more
African countries, warn Oxford scientists Thursday, September 11, 2014 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: Ebola<http://www.naturalnews.com/Ebola.html>, Africa<http://www.naturalnews.com/Africa.html>, animal transmission

(NaturalNews) At least 15 African countries, primarily in the central regions of the continent, are at high risk of Ebola being spread by animals, in addition to the previous seven countries that have reported cases of zoonotic transmission of the disease, according to new research out of the UK. Predictive models created by researchers from Oxford University suggest that the current Ebola outbreak will eventually be spread eastward by wildlife, affecting countries like Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon in the coming months.

Since the believed-to-be strain of Ebola currently spreading originated out of Central Africa, it remains a mystery how it ended up sparking the worst outbreak in history on Africa's western coast. But experts say it will eventually return to its homeland, where tens of thousands of people face infection and possible death.

According to the research, which was published in the journal eLife, fruit bats, the primary vector for the disease, will likely spread the disease to humans living in Africa's central region. It is believed that multiple species of fruit bats are capable of carrying the disease, some without symptoms, and that these creatures will infect other bats and animals such as monkeys and rodents.
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http://www.naturalnews.com/046331_Ebola_government_propaganda_medical_questions.html
21 Questions about Ebola

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