Publications

large serological survey showing cocirculation of ebola and marburg viruses in gabonese bat populations, and a high seroprevalence of both viruses in rousettus aegyptiacus.	ebola and marburg viruses cause highly lethal hemorrhagic fevers in humans. recently, bats of multiple species have been identified as possible natural hosts of zaire ebolavirus (zebov) in gabon and republic of congo, and also of marburgvirus (marv) in gabon and democratic republic of congo.	2009	19785757
investigating the zoonotic origin of the west african ebola epidemic.	the severe ebola virus disease epidemic occurring in west africa stems from a single zoonotic transmission event to a 2-year-old boy in meliandou, guinea. we investigated the zoonotic origins of the epidemic using wildlife surveys, interviews, and molecular analyses of bat and environmental samples. we found no evidence for a concurrent outbreak in larger wildlife. exposure to fruit bats is common in the region, but the index case may have been infected by playing in a hollow tree housing a colo ...	2015	25550396
bombali virus in mops condylurus bat, kenya.	bombali virus (genus ebolavirus) was identified in organs and excreta of an angolan free-tailed bat (mops condylurus) in kenya. complete genome analysis revealed 98% nucleotide sequence similarity to the prototype virus from sierra leone. no ebola virus-specific rna or antibodies were detected from febrile humans in the area who reported contact with bats.	2019	31002301
bombali virus in mops condylurus bats, guinea.	in 2018, a previously unknown ebola virus, bombali virus, was discovered in sierra leone. we describe detection of bombali virus in guinea. we found viral rna in internal organs of 3 angolan free-tailed bats (mops condylurus) trapped in the city of n'zerekore and in a nearby village.	2019	31310231
dendritic cells generated from mops condylurus, a likely filovirus reservoir host, are susceptible to and activated by zaire ebolavirus infection.	ebola virus infection of human dendritic cells (dcs) induces atypical adaptive immune responses and thereby exacerbates ebola virus disease (evd). human dcs, infected with ebola virus aberrantly express low levels of the dc activation markers cd80, cd86, and mhc class ii. the t cell responses ensuing are commonly anergic rather than protective against evd. we hypothesize that dcs derived from potential reservoir hosts such as bats, which do not develop disease signs in response to ebola virus in ...	2019	31681302
utility of primary cells to examine npc1 receptor expression in mops condylurus, a potential ebola virus reservoir.	the significance of the integral membrane protein niemann-pick c1 (npc1) in the ebolavirus entry process has been determined using various cell lines derived from humans, non-human primates and fruit bats. fruit bats have long been purported as the potential reservoir host for ebolaviruses, however several studies provide evidence that mops condylurus, an insectivorous microbat, is also an ebolavirus reservoir. npc1 receptor expression in the context of ebolavirus replication in microbat cells r ...	2020	31961874
metagenomic snapshots of viral components in guinean bats.	to prevent the emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases and reduce their epidemic potential, we need to understand their origins in nature. bats in the order chiroptera are widely distributed worldwide and are natural reservoirs of prominent zoonotic viruses, including nipah virus, marburg virus, and possibly sars-cov-2. in this study, we applied unbiased metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches to decipher the virosphere of frugivorous and insectivorous bat species captured in guéckédou, ...	2021	33803988