The Origins of Ebola as a Human Pathogen

Join UCSF IGHS on April 23 to hear from David McIver, PhD. Human-driven land use change (LUC) increases disease spillover and drives viral evolution. This research links LUC to the emergence and spread of Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) and Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV). The phylogeographic analysis traces EBOV’s origins to 1960 in the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo and SUDV’s to 1958 in Sudan. Landscape fragmentation coincided with viral divergence, expansion and genetic mutations, suggesting host adaptation. The findings highlight LUC’s role in shaping virus evolution and increasing spillover risk.

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