The most significant outbreak of Ebola virus in history occurred during 2014-16 in the West African countries of Guinea (3,814 cases), Liberia (10,678 coases) and Sierra Leone (14,124 cases). In total there were 28,600 cases and 11,325 deaths over a 2.5 year period. The index case was a 2 year old boy from Meliandou, Guinea. It is believed he was exposed to the virus through contact with insectivorous bats carrying Ebola virus. It is common practice for children in this region to play, hunt and eat these bats, however there is no evidence to suggest consumption of a bat was the cause of the index case. The current hypothesis is that he was exposed to an infected bat while playing in a tree where the bats were nesting.
While it cannot be proven that the spillover event was due to issues surrounding bushmeat and animal protein availability in West Africa, and there are several complex components that contribute to spillover and outbreak events, it is possible that increased bushmeat hunting and consumption certainly played a role. It also certainly increases the risk of further spillover events and outbreaks of Ebola virus in the future if issues surrounding fish availability and illegal fishing are not resolved. This is a true example of the interactions of one health at play. (Doumbouya et al. 2017; Seto et al. 2017; Khan & Sesay 2015; Saéz et al. 2014)