For the past few months, Ebola has raged West Africa with documented deaths now above 1000 and climbing. So far, the virus has not spread outside of Africa. However; two Americans infected with the Ebola virus in Africa were successfully treated in Atlanta, Georgia, with an experimental vaccine. The rapid spread of the virus has caused great concern among public health officials worldwide. Unlike the last outbreak of Ebola, this strain of the virus is not Ebola Zaire but rather a new strain of Ebola.
With prior outbreaks, the virus spread from rural villages to the city and was more contained. The present outbreak from all evidence started in the city this time. One theory of how the virus has spread so rapidly this time may be due to the eating of what is known as bushmeat. Bushmeat is a delicacy in countries such as Liberia, Guiena and Sierra Leone and includes flesh of monkeys, gorillas, baboons, antelope and other animals, including the sugarcane rat. These are animals indigenous to their respective countries rural interior. When people leave from rural countryside and come to the city, some want a taste from home and can buy the meat from street vendors. However, eating this meat may expose people to diseases such as anthrax, yellow fever, Ebola or some other unknown pathogen.
For Africans now living in the United States, the desire for bushmeat is being met by black-market trade. The meat is smuggled into the United States smoked, partially cooked or raw by travelers from West Africa. The meat is semi-processed and still moist in many cases to survive the long trips from Africa. Cities that have large West African communities such as New York and Atlanta have had a thriving trade in the meat, which can cost as much as $100 for just a few pounds. The meat is considered a luxury in the United States but the USDA bans any meat from any African country. From 2009 to 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents confiscated 69,000 bushmeat products with an estimated 15,000 pounds being smuggled every month. In 2002, it was estimated that the trade in bushmeat saw sales of more than $50 million per year and could grow more over the next few decades. This global trade in wildlife meat has contributed to the emergence and spread of infectious disease according to a study. The study also said, “Through the investigation of illegally imported wildlife products that illegal bushmeat importation into the United States could act as a conduit for pathogens to spread and suggests that implementation of the disease surveillance of the wildlife trade will help facilitate prevention of disease emergence.”
