Claim: Congo’s Ebola outbreak poses challenges for bush meat.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Democratic Republic of the Congo
text: of the DRC's third largest city Kisangani were primarily Artiodactyla at 40.06% of the carcasses sold then primates at 37.79% of carcasses sold. Recently the prevalence of hunting for bush meat has declined because of the risk to hunters and butchers from the Ebola virus from specifically ape and bat meat. Even though when the meat is cooked smoked or dried it kills the virus, business has dropped significantly with some hunters reporting as much of a reduction in sales of 80%. There has been a war in the DRC in different levels of intensity since 1994 when the country

title: Cultural effects of the Ebola crisis
text: of bushmeat's role as a protein source in Western Africa, it is traditionally associated with good nutrition, and efforts to outlaw the sale and consumption of bushmeat have been impossible to enforce and have met with suspicion from rural communities. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that between 30 and 80 percent of protein intake in rural households in Central Africa comes from wild meat. One major Nigerian newspaper published a report about the widespread view that eating dog meat was a healthy alternative to bush meat. Dog meat was implicated in a June 2015 Liberian outbreak of Ebola,

title: Bushmeat
text: report about the widespread view that eating dog meat was a healthy alternative to bush meat. Dog meat was implicated in a June 2015 Liberian outbreak of Ebola, where three villagers who had tested positive for the disease had shared a meal of dog meat. One study conducted in Liberia during the recent Ebola crisis showed that socio-economic conditions impacted bushmeat consumption. During the crisis, there was a decrease in bushmeat consumption and daily meal frequency. In addition, preferences for bushmeat species stayed the same. Animals used as bushmeat may also carry other diseases such as smallpox, chicken pox, tuberculosis,

title: Cultural effects of the Ebola crisis
text: 2014, the suspected index case for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is a two-year-old child in Guéckédou in south-eastern Guinea, who was the child of a family that hunted two species of fruit bat, "Hypsignathus monstrosus" and "Epomops franqueti". Some researchers suggested the case was caused by zoonotic transmission though the child playing with an insectivorous bat from a colony of Angolan free-tailed bats near the village. Despite health organisations warning about risks of bushmeat, surveys pre-dating the 2014 outbreak indicate that people who eat bushmeat are usually unaware of the risks and view it as healthy food. Because

title: Democratic Republic of the Congo
text: increased the use of bush meat. Although, data on bush meat use is not extensive, studies estimate 6 million tonnes of animals are taken for bush meat globally each year. What animals are hunted are done so indiscriminately without thought of the importance of certain species that could be eco-system engineers or keystone species. Bush meat is an important source of protein for millions in the DRC, especially in rural areas where it makes up 50-70% of meals and for some who cannot afford farmed produce it is a free meal. A recent study in the DRC revealed that almost

title: Bushmeat
text: carcasses sold and consumed in Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo belonged to great apes, it accounted for 2.23% of the biomass of the meat sold, which is significant for ape populations relative to their ecosystem. Furthermore, these numbers may not have accurately represented the extent of the problem for the following reasons: During the time interval between a study from 1981 to 1983 and another study between 1998–2002 in Gabon, ape population density fell 56%, despite the country retaining nearly 80% of its original forest cover. This decline was primarily associated with the transformation of the bushmeat trade

title: Léon-Alfred Opimbat
text: number of people died of the Ebola virus, apparently due to eating primate meat, Opimbat announced a ban on the consumption of primate meat in the northwestern part of the country, near the Gabonese border, on 5 February 2002. In April 2002, he called for international aid to help thousands of people who had fled their homes in the Pool Region due to violence involving rebel Ninja militia fighters. In the May 2002 parliamentary election, Opimbat was elected to the National Assembly as the ACOSS candidate in Mbomo constituency; he won the seat in the first round with 59.08% of

title: Ebola virus epidemic in Sierra Leone
text: raw meat or through droppings from the animals. It is the raw blood and meat that is thought to be more dangerous, so it is those that hunt and butcher the raw meat that are more at risk as opposed to cooked meat sold at market. Health care workers in Sierra Leone have been warned not to go to markets. In late March 2014 there were suspected but not confirmed cases in Sierra Leone. The government announced on 31 March 2014 that there were no cases in Sierra Leone. The epidemic is thought to have started in late May when

title: Bushmeat
text: the Ebola virus in the Congo Basin and in Gabon in the 1990s have been associated with the butchering of apes and consumption of their meat. Bushmeat hunters in Central Africa infected with the human T-lymphotropic virus were closely exposed to wild primates. Results of research on wild chimpanzees in Cameroon indicate that they are naturally infected with the simian foamy virus and constitute a reservoir of HIV-1, a precursor of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans. There are several distinct strains of HIV, indicating that this cross-species transfer has occurred several times. Researchers have shown that HIV originated

title: 2014 Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola virus outbreak
text: remote northern Équateur province who fell ill after handling bushmeat. Despite treatment in a local clinic, the woman died on 11 August 2014. At the time of her death, her diagnosis was hemorrhagic fever of unknown etiology. Subsequent laboratory studies confirmed she had died of Ebola virus disease. Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders (MSF) deployed a team of 50 staff to the area and opened two treatment centres with a combined capacity of 50 beds. MSF, together with the country's Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) worked to heighten public awareness and ensure that surveillance, contact tracing

title: Bushmeat
text: fallen fruits. This chain of events forms a possible indirect means of transmission from the natural host to animal populations. Although primates and other species may be intermediates, evidence suggests people primarily contract the virus from bats. Since most people buy smoked bushmeat, hunters and people preparing the food have the highest risk of infection. Hunters usually shoot, net, scavenge or catapult their prey, and butcher the bats without gloves, getting bites or scratches and coming in contact with their blood. In 2014, the suspected index case for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is a two-year-old child in Guéckédou

title: Democratic Republic of the Congo
text: all of the animals are taken from the Congo each year, at 93% of all live animals there are in the forest are extracted for bush meat, where as a sustainable rate would be 20%. This is a huge amount compared to the Amazon where bush meat is hunted at only 3% the rate of the Congo. the study reveals the only way to solve this is to find other food sources to feed people in the Congo Basin as bush meat is their only means of eating.Another study showed that the species of bush meat in the meat markets

title: Bushmeat
text: hanging the meat over an open fire. Improper preparation of any infected animal may be fatal. The consumption of bushmeat threatens a wide range of species, including species that are endangered and threatened with extinction. For example, a range of endangered species are hunted for bushmeat in Liberia. Species hunted for food in Liberia include elephants, pygmy hippopotamus, chimpanzees, duikers, and other monkeys. Forest rangers in Liberia say that bushmeat poachers will kill any forest animal they encounter. The great apes of Central and West Africa—gorillas and chimpanzees—are nearly ubiquitously sold as bushmeat throughout the region, and a study from

title: Western lowland gorilla
text: the Congo. However, gorillas remain vulnerable to Ebola, deforestation and poaching. In 2002 and 2003, there was an Ebola outbreak in the Lossi sanctuary population, and in 2004, there was an Ebola outbreak in the Lokoué forest clearing in Odzala-Kokoua National Park, both in the Republic of the Congo. The Ebola outbreak in the Lokoué forest clearing negatively affected the individuals living in groups and the adult females more than the solitary males, resulting in an increase in the proportion of solitary males to those living in groups. This population decreased from 377 individuals to 38 individuals two years after

title: Bushmeat
text: efforts to outlaw the sale and consumption of bushmeat have been impossible to enforce and have met with suspicion from rural communities. In one study in Ghana, none of the bushmeat hunters knew about Ghana's hunting laws, suggesting that bans may not be enforceable. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that between 30 and 80 percent of protein intake in rural households in Central Africa comes from wild meat. However, as human populations grow, the interactions between humans and wildlife will increase, making possible zoonotic transmission of diseases from animal hosts more likely. One major Nigerian newspaper published a

title: 2014 Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola virus outbreak
text: women who later died from Ebola-like symptoms. Other village residents also told the team that all the pigs in the village had died just before the illness hit the village and they had eaten the pigs. According to the research team, "it was the third time, after 2007 and 2012, that widespread pig deaths had preceded Ebola outbreaks in humans in the DR Congo...and it has been established that the pigs that died in 2012 carried the Ebola virus." Pig to human transmission has never been proven in previous outbreaks, but villagers have been told to avoid eating them and

title: 2017 Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola virus outbreak
text: is attempting to obtain and review Rwanda's public health rationale and relevant scientific information for implementing these measures. The sub-type "Zaire ebolavirus" has been confirmed in the current outbreak, from the family Filoviridae. It is a single stranded RNA virus, with a 60-90 percent mortality rate (the highest among the strains). An unusually high mortality has been reported in the local pig population. An investigation into potential causes is being considered. Multiple documented outbreaks of Ebola virus disease have occurred in the DRC, with the first being the 1976 outbreak. The virus took its name from the Ebola River near

title: Cultural effects of the Ebola crisis
text: Ebola-free. Osei now says that "Freetown has become Fear-town", and that "Ebola has turned us into prisoners in our own country". The Ebola virus, for which the primary host is suspected to be fruit bats, has been linked to bushmeat, which is commonly consumed in areas of West Africa that use it as a protein source. Although primates and other species may be intermediates, evidence suggests people primarily get the virus from bats. Hunters usually shoot, net, scavenge or catapult their prey, and butcher the bats without gloves, getting bites or scratches and coming in contact with their blood. In

title: Bushmeat
text: from subsistence level to unregulated, commercial hunting, facilitated by transportation infrastructure intended for logging purposes. Unsustainable hunting practices along with habitat loss makes the extinction of these endangered primates more likely. Other wildlife consumption: Bushmeat Bushmeat, wildmeat, or game meat is meat from non-domesticated mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds hunted for food in tropical forests. Commercial harvesting and the trade of wildlife is considered a threat to biodiversity. Bushmeat also provides a route for a number of serious tropical diseases to spread to humans from their animal hosts. These include for example HIV/AIDS and Ebola. Bushmeat is used for sustenance

title: Ebola virus disease
text: in the death of 4 and the second affected 24, resulting in the death of 17. The Sudan variant was responsible for both outbreaks. On 17 August 2012, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported an outbreak of the Ebola-Bundibugyo variant in the eastern region. Other than its discovery in 2007, this was the only time that this variant has been identified as responsible for an outbreak. The WHO revealed that the virus had sickened 57 people and claimed 29 lives. The probable cause of the outbreak was tainted bush meat hunted by local villagers