Ebola found to be at least 16 to 23 million years old, according to study

A new study has re-written Ebola’s family history. Ebola’s evolutionary roots more ancient than previously thought, the study has found.The family of viruses housing Ebola and Marburg is ancient, and the two viruses last shared a common ancestor millions of years ago, scientists say. The research shows that filoviruses, a family to which Ebola and its similarly lethal relative, Marburg, belong, are at least 16-23 million years old.

Filo viruses likely existed in the Miocene Epoch, and at that time, the evolutionary lines leading to Ebola and Marburg had already diverged, the study concludes. ‘Filoviruses are far more ancient than previously thought,’ says lead researcher Derek Taylor, , a University at Buffalo professor of biological sciences. ‘These things have been interacting with mammals for a long time, several million years.’ Scientists say knowing more about Ebola and Marburg’s comparative evolution could ‘affect design of vaccines and programs that identify emerging pathogens.’