After Ebola showed up in the human population, in the area's where the outbreaks occurred they tested several animal species, though not one hundred percent conclusive as the only source, the only species found with the Ebola virus was bats. Ebola is not an air borne virus so it is thought in area's of Africa where bats are eaten the virus was spread to humans through contact with bodily fluids of bats during the preparation for cooking...it's unlikely eating the bats were the cause unless under cooked as heat from cooking the bats would have killed the virus.