Deforestation 'may have started west Africa's Ebola outbreak'
by Caroline Davies and agency from on (#S0JP)
Environment ministers from all over the world attend one-day conference on deforestation and climate change in London
Deforestation may have triggered the recent Ebola outbreak in west Africa, France's environment minister Si(C)goline Royal told a London summit hosted by the Prince of Wales ahead of next month's Cop21 conference.
Addressing the British energy and climate change secretary, Amber Rudd, representatives from forest nation governments and global companies, Royal said researchers believe the destruction of forest habitat brought bats, known to carry the virus, into greater contact with humans.
