http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization that focuses on local conservation and global health issues, released new research on Ebola virus in fruit bats in the peer reviewed journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases, a monthly publication by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study found Ebola virus antibodies circulating in ~4% of the 276 bats scientists screened in Bangladesh. These results suggest that Rousettus fruit bats are a reservoir for Ebola, or a new Ebola-like virus in South Asia. The study extends the range of this lethal disease further than previously suspected to now include mainland Asia. "Research on Filoviruses in Asia is a new frontier of critical importance to human health, and this study has been vital to better understand the wildlife reservoirs and potential transmission routes for Ebola virus in Bangladesh and the region," said Dr. Kevin Olival, lead author and Senior Research Scientist at EcoHealth Alliance. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-reservoir-ebola-virus-bangladesh.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:16:11 EST news277575305