Outbreaks linked to bushmeat

Poached bushmeat has been linked to recent outbreaks of the Ebola virus in Africa.

The deadly virus first broke out in Uganda but was brought under control by mid-August, but a second unrelated outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is ongoing, with over 30 dead.

A report published in 2004 found that outbreaks of the disease in humans were often preceded by outbreaks amongst local animal populations, such as gorillas, chimpanzees and duikers. All human cases in Gabon and the DRC were linked to the handling of dead animals by villagers or hunters.

In other countries, there are often rules about using animals that die without human intervention in the food supply, but the same rules do not apply to African bushmeat - where not only is it often unclear how animals died, but also where the hunters are desperate.

It is now thought that the recent outbreaks are therefore linked to eating infected meat.

The Ebola virus is zoonotic, and can pass from animals to humans. It was named after a river in the DRC where it was first identified in 1976.