Antibody to Ebola virus in guinea pigs: Tandala, Zaire

A case-control study was conducted to investigate the findings of antibody to Ebola virus in the serum of a guinea pig from Tandala, Zaire. Case households, defined by the possession of one or more guinea pigs, were compared to neighboring households without guinea pigs. Seven (5.1%) of 138 samples of human sera and 36 (26%) of 138 samples of guinea pig sera had antibody to Ebola virus. There was no clustering of seropositivity among humans or guinea pigs within households, nor was there any association between the ownership of guinea pigs and seropositivity among household members. These data suggest sporadic subclinical infection of guinea pigs and humans without a dominant role for person-to-person or guinea pig-to-guinea pig transmission.