New Species of Ebola Discovered

The Bombali Ebola virus was identified in bats in Sierra Leone, and there’s no evidence that it has infected people or causes human disease.

Written byCatherine Offord

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ABOVE: Colored transmission electron micrograph of an ebolavirus virion, a member of the same family as the newly discovered virus
WIKIMEDIA, CDC/CYNTHIA GOLDSMITH

Researchers have discovered a new species of Ebola in bats in Sierra Leone, the country’s government announced last week (July 26). Named “Bombali” after the region in which it was found, the virus has not yet been identified in humans, but could still pose a health risk.

“At this time, it is not yet known if the Bombali Ebola virus has been transmitted to people or if it causes disease in people,” Amara Jambai, a senior ministry of health official, tells AFP. “But it has the potential to infect human cells.”

The research, which was carried out by scientists at Columbia University, the University of California, Davis (UCD), and nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, has not yet been published. The government of Sierra Leone decided to announce the team’s findings ...

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Meet the Author

Catherine Offord
After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.
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