The genetic impact of an Ebola outbreak on a wild gorilla population

A severe Ebola outbreak in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park (Republic of Congo) in 2004 led to a 95% mortality rate among western lowland gorillas. Despite this catastrophic event, genetic analysis revealed no significant changes in population diversity or gut microbiome composition between survivors and non-survivors. However, researchers identified six nominally significant missense mutations in four genes that may have conferred increased survival advantages. This study provides the first genetic insights into the resilience of wild great ape populations following an Ebola outbreak, offering potential candidate loci linked to survival.

Fontsere, C., Frandsen, P., Hernandez-Rodriguez, J., Niemann, J., Scharff-Olsen, C. H., Vallet, D., Le Gouar, P., Ménard, N., Navarro, A., Siegismund, H. R., Hvilsom, C., Gilbert, M. T. P., Kuhlwilm, M., Hughes, D., & Marques-Bonet, T. (2021). The genetic impact of an Ebola outbreak on a wild gorilla population. BMC Genomics, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-021-08025-y