Health authorities suspect the Ebola virus killed 84 people in the West African nation of Guinea, according to a report on April 3. At least 50 other people are suspected to be carrying the fatal infection.

Ebola is highly contagious, spreading through direct contact with infected people, infected blood and bodily fluids, and environments contaminated by such fluids. Ebola outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 90 percent. Recuperating patients may still spread the disease through bodily secretions for up to 7 weeks after recovery.

In its initial stages, Ebola shuts down the victim’s immune system and causes fever, headaches, muscle pain and weakness. In its advanced stages, it causes vomiting, diarrhea, organ failure and both internal and external bleeding.

Since its discovery in 1976, Ebola has killed over 1,500 people. Although it has no known cure, analysts say pharmaceutical corporations have little incentive to develop one because the virus is rare and its victims are mostly impoverished people of Africa’s rural areas. The bbc reported that the United States government funds research for a cure mostly out of fear of bioterrorism.

West African foreign ministers who had been meeting for an Economic Community of West African States (ecowas) summit in neighboring Ivory Coast said that the spread of the virus is “a serious threat to regional security.”

The infection has spread from Guinea’s rural areas to the capital Conakry, where one death and eight infections have been confirmed by the government. Doctors Without Borders project coordinator Mariano Lugli assessed the crisis: “We are facing an epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution of cases in the country: Gueckedou, Macenta Kissidougou, Nzerekore and now Conakry.”

This outbreak has even spread beyond Guinea’s borders. Eleven suspected Ebola fatalities have been reported in neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia. All the victims had recently traveled to Guinea. On Saturday, Guinea’s northern neighbor, Senegal, indefinitely closed its border with Guinea in its efforts to curb the spread of the disease. Senegal’s northern neighbor, Mauritania, has closed all but two of its border crossings with Senegal as fears of a region-wide pandemic continue to spread.

The Ebola crisis in Guinea has forced the nation to take desperate measures to prevent further spread of this deadly disease. Ebola typically spreads most at funerals of its victims. Guinea’s first Ebola casualty, for example, infected four of his brothers who were at his funeral. For this reason, public funerals have been prohibited.

More significantly, Guinea’s health department imposed a ban on the selling and consumption of a local delicacy that carries the virus—bats. Fruit bats are the natural hosts of the Ebola virus. Though they are a popular food source, the government of Guinea banned them.

The ban of harmful “food” is not new. The ancient nation of Israel was the first to legislate bans on certain foods deemed unsuitable and unhealthy for human consumption. You can read about them in Leviticus 11. Bats are specifically mentioned in verse 19. Could these health laws have been made known to man for the purpose of preventing crises like the Ebola pandemic in West Africa?

The laws in the Bible are all for our good. They never deprive us of anything that’s ultimately good for us. Herbert W. Armstrong, editor in chief of the Plain Truth magazine, predecessor of the Trumpet, astutely observed:

Man is not to be punished for [disobeying law] merely because a God gave an arbitrary command. But God gave the commands because these violations rob us of joys, and inflict automatic harm. God’s laws were set in motion to give us happiness, peace, security in plenty, and thrilling radiant joys. God’s laws are the gift of His love to us. God wants us to enjoy the blessings they make possible. This is the plain and rational truth!

The current Ebola outbreak is a prime example of the necessity of health laws (and all of God’s laws in general) and the unpleasant consequences of breaking them. For more specific instructions on the foods that were designed for good health, read “Is All Animal Flesh Good for Food?” and our three-part series, “We Are What We Eat.”