Deforestation is helping spread the Ebola virus in West Africa say researchers.
Ebola Virus Disease is a severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
The virus was originally circulating among bats or gorillas in the forests of western Africa. Deforestation is putting humans in closer contact with bats, who may be carrying the disease.
"Extensive deforestation and human activities in the depth of the forests may have promoted direct or indirect contact between humans and a natural reservoir of the virus," wrote researchers in a 2012 study.
The tropical forest region of western Africa now has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are all watching their rain forests get chopped down at a furious pace. This raises the possibility that the current Ebola outbreak, which has now claimed more than 900 lives, won't be the last.
Human activity is driving bats to find new habitats amongst human populations. More than half of Liberia's forests — home to 40 endangered species, including the western chimpanzee — have been sold off to industrial loggers during President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's post-war government, according to figures released by Global Witness.
Logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, and chopping down trees for an increased demand for fire wood are all driving deforestation in Sierra Leone, where total forest cover has now dropped to just 4 percent, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which says if deforestation continues at current levels, Sierra Leone's forests could disappear altogether by 2018.
"We see deforestation or incursion into forests, whether it's through hunting or just alteration of landscape, causing people and wildlife to have more contact," says Epstein.
There seems to be a broader pattern here. Other researchers have argued that the overall increase in Ebola outbreaks in Africa since 1994 is at least partly a consequence of deforestation throughout the tropics.
"Extensive deforestation and human activities in the depth of the forests may have promoted direct or indirect contact between humans and a natural reservoir of the virus," wrote researchers in one 2012 study.
If there really is a link, that's bad news. The tropical forest region of western Africa now has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are all watching their rain forests get chopped down at a furious pace. And that raises the possibility that the current Ebola outbreak, which has now claimed more than 500 lives, won't be the last.
Ebola Virus Disease is a severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
The virus was originally circulating among bats or gorillas in the forests of western Africa. Deforestation is putting humans in closer contact with bats, who may be carrying the disease.
"Extensive deforestation and human activities in the depth of the forests may have promoted direct or indirect contact between humans and a natural reservoir of the virus," wrote researchers in a 2012 study.
The tropical forest region of western Africa now has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are all watching their rain forests get chopped down at a furious pace. This raises the possibility that the current Ebola outbreak, which has now claimed more than 900 lives, won't be the last.
Human activity is driving bats to find new habitats amongst human populations. More than half of Liberia's forests — home to 40 endangered species, including the western chimpanzee — have been sold off to industrial loggers during President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's post-war government, according to figures released by Global Witness.
Logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, and chopping down trees for an increased demand for fire wood are all driving deforestation in Sierra Leone, where total forest cover has now dropped to just 4 percent, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which says if deforestation continues at current levels, Sierra Leone's forests could disappear altogether by 2018.
"We see deforestation or incursion into forests, whether it's through hunting or just alteration of landscape, causing people and wildlife to have more contact," says Epstein.
There seems to be a broader pattern here. Other researchers have argued that the overall increase in Ebola outbreaks in Africa since 1994 is at least partly a consequence of deforestation throughout the tropics.
"Extensive deforestation and human activities in the depth of the forests may have promoted direct or indirect contact between humans and a natural reservoir of the virus," wrote researchers in one 2012 study.
If there really is a link, that's bad news. The tropical forest region of western Africa now has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are all watching their rain forests get chopped down at a furious pace. And that raises the possibility that the current Ebola outbreak, which has now claimed more than 500 lives, won't be the last.
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