WARNING: Bush Meat and Bats are Possible Host Agents of The Ebola Virus

As the peril of the spread of the Ebola Virus becomes even more apparent, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has issued out a warning to countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region to be cognizant of the growing threat of the transmission of the virus from wildlife to humans.
The danger of the unabated spread of Ebola has become a matter of great concern in West Africa, where there has been an upsurge in cases in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Although ECOWAS Health Ministers have all pledged their unbridled commitment to both disease surveillance and fight against the seemingly uphill battle of reducing human-to-human transmission of the virus, the threat of transmission from animals to humans across the food chain still remains.
In several West African communities, both urban and rural, bush meat is a delicacy that is relished in certain meals. For those in the urban areas such exotic additions to meals are a rare delicacy, while in the less affluent rural areas the consumption of bush meat is a matter of necessity to supplement protein intake.
Some African governments have attempted to place a ban on the consumption of wildlife with little or no success.
The FAO is cognizant that it is unrealistic that a ban on the consumption on all wildlife can be enforced. However, it has suggested that a few measures be taken to mitigate the risk of transmission from infected wildlife to humans.
These measures include avoiding all human contact with dead or sick animals in the wildlife, proper handling and cooking of asymptomatic wildlife. Although cooking meat from asymptomatic wildlife at high temperature can destroy the virus, the process of handling the meat in the preparation process can result in the spread of the disease. The FAO has however stated unequivocally that the consumption of all fruit bats must be halted as there animals serve as vectors for the Ebola
Juan Lubroth, the UN FAO’s Chief Veterinary Office believes that these measures can help to stem the spread of the Ebola virus.
The FAO has therefore urged public health workers and other stakeholders in the health of their communities to intensify public awareness of the danger associated with consumption of possibly infected host animals.
The FAO has always been wary of the growing threat of epidemics resulting from the spread of diseases from animals to the humans, unfortunately in West Africa this threat has become a sad reality