Being one of the most deadly viruses ever known by mankind, Ebola also affects animals. In fact Ebola can be transmitted through animals. A recent study in Central Africa showed that this deadly virus can spread from animal carcasses to hunters. When tested, the carcasses tested positive for Ebola virus. They also discovered that the source of virus in each of the 5 outbreaks were animals. Another study says that "Fruit bats maybe acting as natural reservoir for the deadly Ebola service." Many of the researchers have the viewpoint that animals have a major role in spreading the disease. Bats could also infect the humans directly.

Outbreaks of Ebola among human populations generally result from handling infected wild animal carcasses. Declines in human populations generally occur after outbreaks among animal populations. Due to this, in the year 2003 animal populations were put under constant surveillance in order to predict and prevent Ebola outbreaks.

Recovered deceased bodies from gorillas contain multiple Ebola strains, which suggest multiple injections of the virus. Bodies decompose quickly and they are not infectious after three to four days. Contact between gorilla groups hardly occurs. This suggests transmission among gorilla groups unlikely and that outbreaks result from transmission between source viral reservoir and animal populations.

Outbreaks of Ebola have shown an 88% observed decline in chimpanzee populations in 2003. Transmission among chimpanzees through meat consumption constitutes a significant 5.2 (1.3-21.1 with 95% confidence) relative risk factor, while contact between individuals such as touching dead bodies and grooming do not.

Reston Ebola virus, which has not previous outbreak in Africa and is non-pathogenic in humans, have recently been recognized among swine populations in the Philippines; this discovery suggest that the virus has been circulating since and possibly before the initial discovery of Reston Ebola virus in 1989 among monkeys.

Ebola seems to be infective exclusively to mammals and especially primates. It produces a high degree of morbidity and mortality in humans, green monkeys macaques, and others. Fruit bats have also been found to harbor indications of Ebola exposure in their livers, but it is thought that bats are not the vector, but actually suffer from the disease itself. The current guess is that the reservoir for Ebola may possibly be a long-lived arthropod, but this guess is based on circumstantial evidence and not clinical examination.

Animals are also used for diagnosis and testing of any new vaccine or drug. By using animals we store them in a containment chamber with excellent bio-safety. Thus by using animals as both producer and consumer we think our potential scientists would be able to complete the chain with minimum transmission of the disease from animals to animals/humans. One interesting incident that happened while developing treatment for Ebola was when a researcher accidentally pricked herself with a needle that was being used to inject Ebola into a lab mouse. She was given a vaccine that was used for experimental purposes and has had no health complications till date. The only doubt that's still prevailing is about whether she was really infected or not.