The Nexus Between Forest Fragmentation in Africa and Ebola Virus Disease Outbreaks

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2017 Feb 15

PMID 28195145

Citations 76

Authors

Maria Cristina Rulli

Monia Santini

David T S Hayman

Paolo DOdorico

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Tropical forests are undergoing land use change in many regions of the world, including the African continent. Human populations living close to forest margins fragmented and disturbed by deforestation may be particularly exposed to zoonotic infections because of the higher likelihood for humans to be in contact with disease reservoirs. Quantitative analysis of the nexus between deforestation and the emergence of Ebola virus disease (EVD), however, is still missing. Here we use land cover change data in conjunction with EVD outbreak records to investigate the association between recent (2004-2014) outbreaks in West and Central Africa, and patterns of land use change in the region. We show how in these EVD outbreaks the index cases in humans (i.e. spillover from wildlife reservoirs) occurred mostly in hotspots of forest fragmentation.

Citing Articles

Forest Fragmentation and Warmer Climate Increase Tick-Borne Disease Infection.

Iijima H, Watari Y, Doi K, Yasuo K, Okabe K Ecohealth. 2025; 22(1):124-137.

PMID: 39864039 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-025-01702-4.

Habitat sharing and interspecies interactions in caves used by bats in the Republic of Congo.

Labadie M, Morand S, Bourgarel M, Niama F, Nguilili G, Tobi N PeerJ. 2025; 13():e18145.

PMID: 39802183 PMC: 11725272. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.18145.

Native and non-native winter foraging resources do not explain winter roost occupancy in Queensland, Australia.

Baranowski K, Bharti N Front Ecol Evol. 2024; 12.

PMID: 39697612 PMC: 11654838. DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2024.1483865.

Influence of Host and Landscape-Associated Factors in the Infection and Transmission of Pathogens: The Case of Directly Transmitted Virus in Mammals.

Villalobos-Segura M, Rico-Chavez O, Suzan G, Chaves A Vet Med Sci. 2024; 11(1):e70160.

PMID: 39692054 PMC: 11653093. DOI: 10.1002/vms3.70160.

Trade-offs among human, animal, and environmental health hinder the uniform progress of global One Health.

Tian Y, Zhang J, Li Z, Wu K, Cao M, Lin J iScience. 2024; 27(12):111357.

PMID: 39650728 PMC: 11625309. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111357.

References

Leroy E, Kumulungui B, Pourrut X, Rouquet P, Hassanin A, Yaba P . Fruit bats as reservoirs of Ebola virus. Nature. 2005; 438(7068):575-6. DOI: 10.1038/438575a. View

Leroy E, Rouquet P, Formenty P, Souquiere S, Kilbourne A, Froment J . Multiple Ebola virus transmission events and rapid decline of central African wildlife. Science. 2004; 303(5656):387-90. DOI: 10.1126/science.1092528. View

Bausch D, Schwarz L . Outbreak of ebola virus disease in Guinea: where ecology meets economy. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014; 8(7):e3056. PMC: 4117598. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003056. View

Georges-Courbot M, Sanchez A, Lu C, Baize S, Leroy E, Tevi-Benissan C . Isolation and phylogenetic characterization of Ebola viruses causing different outbreaks in Gabon. Emerg Infect Dis. 1997; 3(1):59-62. PMC: 2627600. DOI: 10.3201/eid0301.970107. View

Castro M, Monte-Mor R, Sawyer D, Singer B . Malaria risk on the Amazon frontier. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006; 103(7):2452-7. PMC: 1413719. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0510576103. View

Fritz S, See L, McCallum I, You L, Bun A, Moltchanova E . Mapping global cropland and field size. Glob Chang Biol. 2015; 21(5):1980-92. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12838. View

Nkoghe D, Kone M, Yada A, Leroy E . A limited outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Etoumbi, Republic of Congo, 2005. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2011; 105(8):466-72. DOI: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2011.04.011. View

CLARK C, Poulsen J, Malonga R, Elkan Jr P . Logging concessions can extend the conservation estate for Central African tropical forests. Conserv Biol. 2009; 23(5):1281-93. DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01243.x. View

Yasuoka J, Levins R . Impact of deforestation and agricultural development on anopheline ecology and malaria epidemiology. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2007; 76(3):450-60. View

10.

Cohuet A, Simard F, Wondji C, Antonio-Nkondjio C, Awono-Ambene P, Fontenille D . High malaria transmission intensity due to Anopheles funestus (Diptera: Culicidae) in a village of savannah-forest transition area in Cameroon. J Med Entomol. 2004; 41(5):901-5. DOI: 10.1603/0022-2585-41.5.901. View

11.

Pinzon J, Wilson J, Tucker C, Arthur R, Jahrling P, Formenty P . Trigger events: enviroclimatic coupling of Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2004; 71(5):664-74. View

12.

Peterson A, Carroll D, Mills J, Johnson K . Potential mammalian filovirus reservoirs. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005; 10(12):2073-81. PMC: 3323391. DOI: 10.3201/eid1012.040346. View

13.

Maganga G, Kapetshi J, Berthet N, Ilunga B, Kabange F, Mbala Kingebeni P . Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo. N Engl J Med. 2014; 371(22):2083-91. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1411099. View

14.

Myers S, Gaffikin L, Golden C, Ostfeld R, Redford K, Ricketts T . Human health impacts of ecosystem alteration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013; 110(47):18753-60. PMC: 3839693. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1218656110. View

15.

Taylor D . Seeing the forests for the more than the trees. Environ Health Perspect. 1998; 105(11):1186-91. PMC: 1470324. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.971051186. View

16.

Saez A, Weiss S, Nowak K, Lapeyre V, Zimmermann F, Dux A . Investigating the zoonotic origin of the West African Ebola epidemic. EMBO Mol Med. 2015; 7(1):17-23. PMC: 4309665. DOI: 10.15252/emmm.201404792. View

17.

Linard C, Gilbert M, Snow R, Noor A, Tatem A . Population distribution, settlement patterns and accessibility across Africa in 2010. PLoS One. 2012; 7(2):e31743. PMC: 3283664. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031743. View

18.

Swanepoel R, Leman P, Burt F, Zachariades N, Braack L, Ksiazek T . Experimental inoculation of plants and animals with Ebola virus. Emerg Infect Dis. 1996; 2(4):321-5. PMC: 2639914. DOI: 10.3201/eid0204.960407. View

19.

Pigott D, Golding N, Mylne A, Huang Z, Henry A, Weiss D . Mapping the zoonotic niche of Ebola virus disease in Africa. Elife. 2014; 3:e04395. PMC: 4166725. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.04395. View

20.

Daszak P, Cunningham A, Hyatt A . Anthropogenic environmental change and the emergence of infectious diseases in wildlife. Acta Trop. 2001; 78(2):103-16. DOI: 10.1016/s0001-706x(00)00179-0. View