The devastating Ebola outbreak could have been caused after a two-year-old boy played in a bat-infested tree in a tiny village, it has emerged.
Emile Ouamouno, 2, from Guinea, is believe to have triggered the current outbreak after playing in a hollow tree in his home village of Meliandou.
Scientists visited the village - which has just 31 houses - and discovered the toddler, who died from Ebola in December 2013, often played in the tree which was infested with fruit bats.
Villagers said the tree burned down months later and a 'rain of bats' fell from the tree, a report in EMBO Molecular Medicine found.
Meliandou is a small village surrounded by farmland and large trees
Meliandou is a small village surrounded by farmland and large trees

Dr Fabian Leendertz, who was part of the team which visited the village, said it was an extremely rare occurrence and said scientists now need to find out more about the bats.
"They have moved into human settlements. They do not just live in the trees but also under the roofs of houses in the villages.
"The Ebola virus must jump through colonies from bat to bat, so we need to know more."
Villagers were known to use the bats for food before a ban on bushmeat was introduced. Scientists do not think bushmeat triggered the outbreak. Instead, they concluded it was Emile's exposure to the bats and their droppings.
Nurse Pauline Caferkey is currently being treated for the virus in a north London hospital.