奇速英语

The Ebola virus has killed more than 1,000 people in West Africa. And it also threatens wildlife. 

One day in 1996, boys from a village in northern Gabon found a dead gorilla in the forest. They took it home, and the villagers prepared the animal for food. The World Health Organization says this started an Ebola outbreak that killed 21 people.

Years later, writer David Quammen made a reporting trip to Gabon. He met two men from that village who were there during the Ebola outbreak. They said their families were not the only ones affected. “At the time Ebola was hitting their village, they saw something strange. Nearby in the forest, they saw a pile of 13 dead gorillas.” The killer was Ebola. The story of the 13 dead gorillas outside the Gabon village shows how new infectious diseases connect humans and animals. Mr. Quammen wrote a book called Spillover: This book describes how these diseases jump, or move, from animals to people at an increasing rate.

David Quammen says many new diseases, especially viruses, seem to be developing. He says one reason is that the human population is going deeper and deeper into living areas -- where humans are finding new creatures. We’re coming in contact with these animals. And we’re giving the viruses those animals carry the opportunity to spill over into human populations.”

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