Journal article

Mapping the zoonotic niche of Marburg virus disease in Africa

DM Pigott, N Golding, A Mylne, Z Huang, DJ Weiss, OJ Brady, MUG Kraemer, SI Hay

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene | OXFORD UNIV PRESS | Published : 2015

Abstract

Background: Marburg virus disease (MVD) describes a viral haemorrhagic fever responsible for a number of outbreaks across eastern and southern Africa. It is a zoonotic disease, with the Egyptian rousette (Rousettus aegyptiacus) identified as a reservoir host. Infection is suspected to result from contact between this reservoir and human populations, with occasional secondary human-to-human transmission. Methods: Index cases of previous human outbreaks were identified and reports of infection in animals recorded. These data were modelled within a species distribution modelling framework in order to generate a probabilistic surface of zoonotic transmission potential of MVD across sub-Saharan A..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation


Awarded by Wellcome Trust


Funding Acknowledgements

DMP is funded by a Sir Richard Southwood Graduate Scholarship from the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford; NG is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1053338]; ZH is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1106023]; DJW is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1068048]; OJB is funded by a BBSRC studentship; MUGK is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) through a graduate scholarship; SIH is funded by a Senior Research Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust [095066] that also supports AM and a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1093011]. SIH would also like to acknowledge funding support from the RAPIDD program of the Science & Technology Directorate, Department of Homeland Security and the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health.