Sierra Leone’s government has confirmed that a new strain of Ebola virus has been found in bats.
The announcement on Thursday is the first since the virus wreaked havoc in the country two years ago.
There are no indications yet however if this latest strain of the virus in bats could be transmitted to humans and develop into the deadly Ebola disease.
Amara Jambai, a senior ministry of health official, told AFP “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 but it has the potential to infect human cells.”
“This is early stages of the findings,” Jambai added. Officials however want the public to remain calm as researchers conduct further findings into the virus.
AFP reports that the researchers found the new virus in the northern Bombali region.
Health officials in Sierra Leone are now working to determine whether any humans were infected.
The country’s health ministry spokesman, Harold Thomas is quoted by the AFP as saying that “As precautionary measures, people should refrain from eating bats.”
The 2013 outbreak of the disease caused by the Zaire species killed more than 11,300 people in West Africa.
The latest virus is caused by the Bombali species and is yet to be considered that deadly.
Source: Africafeeds.com
