Using machine learning methods developed for artificial intelligence, a team of researchers, including some from UGA, developed a model to predict bat species most likely to transmit Ebola and other viruses.
“Maps generated by the algorithm can help guide targeted surveillance and virus discovery projects,” John Drake, professor in the Odum School of Ecology and a co-author of the study, told The Register, which covers the IT industry. “We suspect there may be other filoviruses waiting to be found. An outstanding question for future work is to investigate why there are so few filovirus spillover events reported for humans and wildlife in Southeast Asia compared to equatorial Africa.”
