Human–Bat Interactions in Rural West Africa - Volume 21, Number 8—August 2015 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

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Human–Bat Interactions in Rural West Africa - Volume 21, Number 8—August 2015 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

Volume 21, Number 8—August 2015

Dispatch

Human–Bat Interactions in Rural West Africa

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• The Study
• Conclusions
• Suggested Citation

Figures

• Figure 1
• Figure 2

Tables

• Table

Technical Appendicies

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Priscilla Anti, Michael Owusu, Olivia Agbenyega, Augustina Annan, Ebenezer Kofi Badu, Evans Ewald Nkrumah, Marco Tschapka, Samuel Oppong, Yaw Adu-Sarkodie, and Christian Drosten 

Author affiliations: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana (P. Anti, M. Owusu, O. Agbenyega, A. Annan, E.K. Badu, E.E. Nkrumah, S. Oppong, Y. Adu-Sarkodie); University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany (M. Tschapka); University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany (C. Drosten); German Centre for Infection Research, Bonn (C. Drosten)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract

Because some bats host viruses with zoonotic potential, we investigated human–bat interactions in rural Ghana during 2011–2012. Nearly half (46.6%) of respondents regularly visited bat caves; 37.4% had been bitten, scratched, or exposed to bat urine; and 45.6% ate bat meat. Human–bat interactions in rural Ghana are frequent and diverse.

Bats are increasingly being recognized as hosts for pathogens that affect humans and livestock (1). The 2014–2015 outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa demonstrates how human–bat interactions in even remote locations can trigger infection chains that affect global public health and strain the national health care systems in Africa (2). One of the major challenges to preventing bat-related diseases is lack of knowledge about the frequency of, circumstances surrounding, and motivations for human–bat interactions in rural African communities. Only a few quantitative records are available in the scientific literature, and most are not specific for Africa (3).

In Ghana, bats carry potentially zoonotic viruses including lyssa-, corona-, henipa-, and filoviruses (4–6). Although anecdotal knowledge exists with regard to human contact with bats and bat roosts within rural communities and information about the ubiquitous bush meat trade (7), little information is available about the intensity and circumstances of exposure (8). We therefore studied the cultural practices, sociodemographic factors, and religious activities that determine human–bat contact in remote rural communities from which new disease outbreaks have repeatedly emerged (9). Specifically, we studied the sociocultural association of humans with bats in rural communities in Ghana, focusing on potential routes of virus transmission.

Ms. Anti is an MSc student at Kwame Nkrumah University of Sciences and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. Her research focuses on the influence of human behavior on zoonotic disease transmission.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the chiefs and citizens of the communities of Buoyem, Kwamang, and Forikrom.

This study was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft within the Africa Infectious Diseases program through grants to C.D. and Y.A.-S. (DR 772/3-1) and to O.A., S.O., and M.T. (KA1241/18-1).

References

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Figures

• Figure 1. Human–bat interaction study locations and provinces within Ghana, 2011–2012. Asterisks indicate the study sites, Kwamang, Forikrom, and Buoyem. Red circles indicate sources of bush meat. The main Techiman market...
• Figure 2. Typical situations in which direct and indirect bat–human contact occurred in Ghana, 2011–2012. A) Religious activity at the Mprisi cave in Buoyem. The man is pouring libation to the...

Table

• Table. Modes of human–bat contact and purposes of cave visitation, Ghana, 2011–2012

Technical Appendix

• . Technical Appendix.  376 KB

Suggested citation for this article: Anti P, Owusu M, Agbenyega O, Annan A, Badu EK, Nkrumah EE, et al. Human–bat interactions in rural West Africa. Infect Dis. 2015 Aug [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2108.142015

DOI: 10.3201/eid2108.142015