fruit bat

An endangered mountain gorilla rests inside a forest in a Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Rwanada.

We still don’t know for sure how Ebola reached humans

October 30, 2014Health

Scientists are still trying to figure out when and how the Ebola virus first emerged in humans. Many believe that fruit bats are the so-called “reservoir hosts,” but that remains to be definitively proven. Science writer David Quammen ventured deep into the forest of central Africa to try to find out for his latest book “Ebola: The Natural and Human History of a Deadly Virus.”

Fruit bats like the ones pictured here are often key vectors for diseases like Ebola, and disturbing their habitats may have made humans more vulnerable.

Here’s how cutting down West African trees made us vulnerable to Ebola

October 9, 2014Environment