Statement by the Secretariats of CMS and EUROBATS - Protecting Bats during the Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: A Call for Evidence-Based Action

Straw-coloured Fruit Bats © Adobe Stock Images

Bonn, 19 June 2026 - The Secretariats of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats (EUROBATS) extend their strong solidarity to the affected communities, front-line health workers, governments, and international partners working to contain the ongoing outbreak of Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus (BDBV) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda.

On 17 May 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

The Secretariats are also deeply concerned that patterns in media coverage and past responses to disease outbreaks have misrepresented the role of wild animals, without scientific evidence, creating a foreseeable risk of harm.

Although we have not yet observed bat culling or organised persecution of bat colonies linked to the current outbreak, the CMS and EUROBATS Secretariats urge all actors, including governments, communities, media, and international partners, to ensure that public health messaging remains scientifically accurate, i.e. without blaming the bats, and that efforts to contain the outbreak do not unintentionally cause irreversible harm to bats, whose ecological contributions are vital to ecosystem health and human well-being.

Scientific Evidence: There is no Proven Source of the Current Outbreak

The characterisation of bats as the natural reservoir of the Bundibugyo virus is not supported by scientific evidence. The natural reservoir of the BDBV has not been found. While antibodies to other ebolaviruses have been detected in certain bat species, indicating past exposure, no live virus has ever been isolated from bats. While the presence of antibodies demonstrates prior exposure to a pathogen; it does not indicate current infection, active viral shedding, or reservoir status, nor does it establish a wild animal as the source of disease in humans.

Extensive sampling of bat populations during and following previous Ebola outbreaks in DRC has consistently failed to detect viral RNA in bats. A peer-reviewed study examining over a 1,000 fruit and insectivorous bats sampled during and after two recent Ebola outbreaks in DRC found no viral RNA in any specimen tested, despite finding antibodies in a proportion of fruit bats. The authors explicitly acknowledged the difficulty of establishing bats as a source of ebolaviruses and called for further research.

It is scientifically inaccurate to state that bats are responsible for the current outbreak. Public communications must reflect that the natural reservoir of Ebola viruses has not been found and remains an open scientific question.

The current outbreak is primary driven by human-to-human transmission, and the response is correctly, focused on surveillance, contact tracing, safe clinical management, and community engagement. Targeting bats has no role in this response.

Misinformation and the Risk of Bat Persecution

Some media reports have characterised fruit bats as the most likely source of the initial spillover event without adequate scientific support. The Secretariats note with concern that such coverage has historically triggered misinformed and harmful responses against bats.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, following widespread media coverage linking bats to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, bat colonies were destroyed in several countries. Similar responses occurred following the 2006 avian influenza outbreak, when widespread culling of migratory waterbirds was called for despite the fact that wild birds were primarily victims of the outbreak rather than its source. Across multiple zoonotic disease events, such actions caused lasting harm to wildlife populations and delivered no measurable public health benefit.

The straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum), one of the species most frequently cited in connection with Ebola and other zoonotic diseases without underlying scientific evidence, is already experiencing population declines of an estimated 25–30% over the past 15 years, driven in part by persecution rooted in unfounded disease associations. This species is included on CMS Appendix II, which lists migratory species of wild animals whose conservation would benefit from international cooperation, and is the subject of a Concerted Action – a special cooperative initiative established under CMS to address its conservation status.

The Essential Ecological and Economic Role of Bats

Bats comprise approximately 20 per cent of all known mammalian species, with more than 1,500 species, making them the second most species-rich order of mammals after rodents. Their profound and irreplaceable contribution to ecosystems and to human well-being is well established by science:

Pest control. Insect-eating bats consume enormous quantities of agricultural and forestry pests, and disease-vector insects such as mosquitoes, reducing the need for chemical pesticides and generating estimated economic benefits of billions of dollars annually worldwide.

Pollination. Many economically and culturally important tropical plant species, depend on bats for pollination, including the baobab tree, which holds great ecological, cultural, and nutritional significance across much of Africa.

Seed dispersal and forest regeneration. Fruit bats are among the most effective long-distance seed dispersers on Earth. The straw-coloured fruit bat transports seeds over distances more than three times greater than those recorded for elephants, contributing fundamentally to forest regeneration across sub-Saharan Africa. Studies have found that more than 90 per cent of seeds dispersed into deforested areas are carried by fruit bats. The loss of bat populations would significantly impair the natural regeneration of forest landscapes, including in the very regions currently affected by the Ebola outbreak, where forest health is a critical determinant of long-term human welfare.

In addition to these direct services, bats provide food for predator species and contribute to biodiversity at all levels. Bat guano is also a significant natural fertiliser, harvested commercially in many countries and constituting an important nutrient input for local agricultural systems.

Bat population health is recognised as an indicator of overall ecosystem health. The loss of bat colonies would have cascading negative consequences for the ecosystems and communities that depend on them.

The Broader Context: Addressing the True Drivers of Zoonotic Disease

As reflected in a report produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Livestock Research Institute (Preventing the Next Pandemic: Zoonotic Diseases and How to Break the Chain of Transmission), the emergence of zoonotic diseases is not caused by the existence of viruses in wildlife, but by human activities that create conditions for interspecies transmission. These activities include the destruction and fragmentation of natural habitats, the expansion of human settlements into wildlife habitat, unsustainable agricultural practices, and the hunting, handling and consumption of wild animals.

Tackling these underlying drivers, not the persecution of wildlife, is the path to reducing the long-term risk of zoonotic disease emergence. As past outbreaks consistently demonstrate, measures that inappropriately target wildlife undermine biodiversity, damage ecosystem services, do nothing to protect human health, and may even increase risk.

Conclusion

The response to the Ebola outbreak in DRC and Uganda must be guided by evidence, equity, and a long-term vision of human and ecosystem health. Bats are an integral part of the ecosystems on which human communities across Africa depend. Protecting them during a public health emergency is not in tension with saving human lives; it is inseparable from it.

The CMS and EUROBATS Secretariats stand ready to provide support to Parties, Range States, and partners in ensuring that the response to this outbreak upholds both human health and biodiversity conservation, and invite all interested parties to contact the Secretariats for further information or assistance.