Epidemiology and Public HealthHuman and Animal Health Unit

Epidemiology of Ebola in West Africa: Jakob Zinsstag

Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute,

Basel, Switzerland

University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

21. April 2023 2

Formenty et al. (1999). Human Infection Due Ebola Virus, Subtype Côte d’Ivoire: Clinical and Biologic

Presentation. Journal of Infectious Diseases,179 Suppl. 1 S48-53.

21. April 2023 3

Zinsstag et al. (2005) Potential of cooperation between human and animal health to strengthen health systems. Lancet; 366: 2142-45

21. April 2023 4

November 1994: ~8 dead chimpanzees in the Taï Forest National Park, point-sourceEpidemic (meat consumption of smaller monkeys suspected (Cercopithecus)), earlier epidemic likely in 1992.

Chimpanzees cannot be a reservoir

Formenty et al. (1999) Ebola Virus Outbreak among Wild Chimpanzees Living in a Rain Forest of Côte d’Ivoire. Journal of Infectious Diseases ;179 Suppl 1: 120-126

21. April 2023 5

Reservoir ecosystem: Tropical rain forest

Fruit batsHumans

Wildlife:i.e. Chimpanzees

Pigott et al. (2014) Mapping the zoonotic niche of Ebola virus disease in Africa. eLIFE, 3:e04395

21. April 2023 6

The social-ecological systems dynamics of Ebola in West Africa

Presumptive underlying mechanisms of the emergence of Ebola

1.Changes in the agro-ecosystem from subsistence farming to increasingly industrialized farming Habitat change of fruit bats by industrialized agro-forestry like oil palm production.2.Social change towards a proletarization of farmers becoming oil palm fruit pickers

Wallace et al. (2014) Did Ebola Emerge in West Africa by a policy-driven phase change in agroecology ? Environment and Planning A 2014; volume 46(11) 2533-2542