8 things you need to know about Ebola

2. TRANSMISSION BEGAN FROM ANIMALS

EVD was first transmitted to people from wild animals. The fruit bat — also called megabat or odd world fruit bat — is the natural host of the Ebola virus. Fruit bats are known to house a number of diseases that are lethal to humans, yet they themselves are rarely affected.

For example, between 2001 and 2003, scientists ran series of tests on the bats, and found the virus present in three species: Hypsignathus monstrosus (Hammer-Headed Bat), Epomops franqueti (Franquet’s Epauletted Fruit Bat), and Myonycteris torquata (Little Collared Fruit Bat). Shockingly, none of these three species showed symptoms of the virus.

Fruit bats also carry other viruses, such as the epidemical Marburg Virus, Hendra Virus, and Nipah Virus (the latter two being fatal to humans). Yet, talk to South Pacific Islanders and Micronesia, and they consider fruit bats a delicacy!

The virus, though, has since been spreading via human-to-human transmission.