The severe Ebola virus disease epidemic occurring in West Africa stems from a single zoonotic transmission event to a 2‐year‐old boy in Meliandou, Guinea. We investigated the zoonotic origins of the epidemic using wildlife surveys, interviews, and molecular analyses of bat and environmental samples. We found no evidence for a concurrent outbreak in larger wildlife. Exposure to fruit bats is common in the region, but the index case may have been infected by playing in a hollow tree housing a colony of insectivorous free‐tailed bats ( Mops condylurus ). Bats in this family have previously been discussed as potential sources for Ebola virus outbreaks, and experimental data have shown that this species can survive experimental infection. These analyses expand the range of possible Ebola virus sources to include insectivorous bats and reiterate the importance of broader sampling efforts for understanding Ebola virus ecology.

We identified a novel human polyomavirus from a kidney transplant patient under immunosuppressive treatment, by use of a generic PCR. The genome of the virus was completely amplified and sequenced. In phylogenetic analyses, it appeared as the closest relative to the African green monkey-derived lymphotropic polyomavirus (LPV). Further investigation of clinical samples from immunocompromised patients with specific nested PCR revealed additional positive samples, indicating that the virus naturally infects humans. The virus was tentatively named human polyomavirus 9 (HPyV9). The previously observed seroreactivity to LPV in human populations might find a partial explanation in the circulation of HPyV9.

SARS-CoV-2 across Africa: The impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has been hard to track in African countries, largely because of patchy data. Wilkinson et al . curated viral genomes collected in 2021 from several countries across the continent. Outbreaks during 2020 in each African country were initiated by imported cases, mostly from Europe. As the pandemic developed, case numbers in African countries were likely many times higher than reported, and subsequent waves of the pandemic appear to have been more severe. Consequently, high-transmission variants have emerged that have spread within the continent, and African countries must be included in global control efforts. —CA

Understandably, given the fast pace of biodiversity loss, there is much interest in using Earth observation technology to track biodiversity, ecosystem functions and ecosystem services. However, because most biodiversity is invisible to Earth observation, indicators based on Earth observation could be misleading and reduce the effectiveness of nature conservation and even unintentionally decrease conservation effort. We describe an approach that combines automated recording devices, high-throughput DNA sequencing and modern ecological modelling to extract much more of the information available in Earth observation data. This approach is achievable now, offering efficient and near-real-time monitoring of management impacts on biodiversity and its functions and services.