Bats out of hell

摘要

Ebola in Australia? Unlikely, you might think. After all, Australia is an island continent, well isolated from the rest of the world's dangerous diseases. Rabies, known in the Middle East since 2300 BC and present on every other inhabited continent, has never made the leap to Australia. And as far as anyone knows, the nearest Ebola has got is the Philippines, about 3000 kilometres to the north. But to virologist John Mackenzie, from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, the prospect is not nearly as far-fetched as it sounds. He believes the disease, which in its worst form can cause uncontrollable haemorrhaging and an agonising death, could turn up at any time, courtesy of a roving fruit bat.