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Africa is becoming known for the emergence and re-emergence of Ebola virus. The virus, which was initially restricted to East and Central Africa, is now emerging in West Africa. Ecological aspects of Ebola virus diseases are poorly understood. It is suspected that the virus is circulating in the forests of Africa, mostly hosted by migratory bats, which spread the virus to other wildlife particularly great apes and duikers. Spillovers occur when humans have contacts with wildlife. Transmission of the virus within human systems occurs through contacts with body fluids of an infected person. Several factors seem to be responsible for the emergence and re-emergence of the virus in Africa including circulation of the virus in forest ecosystems, persistence of the virus in body fluids (during sickness, upon death, and in survivors), transmission through diverse routes (direct contacts, fomites, oral), presence of infected migratory bats and other wildlife species, forest encroachment, and climatic and seasonal changes. Recent studies show that fresh outbreaks can emerge not only from wildlife but also from survivors of previous outbreaks. It is therefore important to understand the ecology of the virus in order to mitigate future emergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bats are considered important bioindicators and deliver key ecosystem services to humans. However, it is not clear how the individual and combined effects of climate change and land-use change will affect their conservation in the future. We used a spatial conservation prioritization framework to determine future shifts in the priority areas for the conservation of 169 bat species under projected climate and land-use change scenarios across Africa. Specifically, we modelled species distribution models under four different climate change scenarios at the 2050 horizon. We used land-use change scenarios within the spatial conservation prioritization framework to assess habitat quality in areas where bats may shift their distributions. Overall, bats’ representation within already existing protected areas in Africa was low (∼5% of their suitable habitat in protected areas which cover ∼7% of Africa). Accounting for future land-use change resulted in the largest shift in spatial priority areas for conservation actions, and species representation within priority areas for conservation actions decreased by ∼9%. A large proportion of spatial conservation priorities will shift from forested areas with little disturbance under present conditions to agricultural areas in the future. Planning land use to reduce impacts on bats in priority areas outside protected areas where bats will be shifting their ranges in the future is crucial to enhance their conservation and maintain the important ecosystem services they provide to humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]