The nexus between forest fragmentation in Africa and Ebola virus disease outbreaks

• DOI: 10.1038/srep41613
• Publication Date: 2017-02-14T10:16:10Z
• Authors: Maria Cristina Rulli; Monia Santini; David T. S. Hayman; Paolo D’Odorico
• Keywords: Satellite Imagery; Conservation of Natural Resources; Life on Land; Veterinary and Food Sciences; Forests; Article; Disease Outbreaks; Vaccine Related; 03 medical and health sciences; Clinical Research; Humans; Agricultural; 0303 health sciences; Geography; Forestry Sciences; Prevention; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola; 15. Life on land; Ebolavirus; Ebola virus, fragmentation, deforestation; Resin Cements; 3. Good health; Emerging Infectious Diseases; Infectious Diseases; Good Health and Well Being; 13. Climate action; Ebola; Africa; Hemorrhagic Fever; Seasons; Infection

AbstractTropical 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.