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Monday, March 31, 2014

Bat soup blamed as deadly Ebola virus spreads

By Marc Lallanilla Livescience.com March 27, 2014

An outbreak of the Ebola virus has claimed at least 63 lives in the African nation of Guinea.  To combat the spread of this deadly disease, Guinean officials have taken the unusual step of banning the consumption of bat soup, grilled bat and other local delicacies.  "We discovered the vector [infectious] agent of the Ebola virus is the bat,"…."We sent messages everywhere to announce the ban. People must even avoid consumption of rats and monkeys. They are very dangerous animals." [5 Things You Should Know About Ebola]

Ebola is a hemorrhagic virus that spreads through bodily fluids and can cause high fever, diarrhea, vomiting and internal and external bleeding. There is no vaccine or cure, and Ebola is fatal up to 90 percent of the time, according to the National Institutes of Health…….. Though many animals can spread disease, bats have come under increased scientific scrutiny in recent years for their uncanny ability to host "zoonotic" viruses, that is, viruses that readily make the jump from one species to another……. The flying mammals are reservoirs for more than 60 viruses that can infect humans, and host more viruses per species than even rodents........In addition to the Ebola virus, rabies, histoplasmosis, SARS, Nipah (which causes deadly brain fevers), Hendra (a lethal respiratory disease), Marburg, Lyssaviruses and other diseases can be spread by bats, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)......To Read More....

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