I meant about asymptomatic carriers of Ebola.
The Guinea ebola outbreak spreads to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Scary stuff. Let’s hope that the outbreak can be contained considering the limited resources of the countries involved.
Apparently some vaccines were tested successfully on non-human primates but the FDA has “no candidate vaccines” for human use. Can someone with the knowledge explain why? Unlike Influenza A, Ebola does not mutate all that often. Besides, Ebola has enormous bioweapon and natural pandemic potential.
CCR5 - Delta32. It basically disrupts the entry process of certain types of virus through the human cell membranes. Provides immunity to Bubonic Plague, small pox, and highly protective (for those with two copies of the mutation) against HIV, although there have been cases. People with only one copy have been shown to be vulnerable to HIV infection, but will be much healthier, much longer than those without the mutation. It is not protective against all viruses though, and I’ve never seen anything suggesting that it had been shown to be protective against Ebola.
The outbreak continues. Over two month since we last posted about this, and the latest Ebola eruption is still not contained. Now what?
I believe that some sort of drastic measure needs to be taken, such as quarantining passengers from flights originating in West Africa until any potential incubation period is passed.
Finding quarantine facilities in/near every airport in the world that can contain, separately (to avoid spreading it to uninfected detainees), everyone leaving West Africa for two weeks at a time will prove quite difficult.
Considering that Ebola is not contagious until it is symptomatic, quarantine is more than a bit overkill.
Updates show the death toll has topped 700 in this outbreak of the EBOV subtype. Historically this strain has had a death rate of around 90% but early patient care has dropped the toll to around 60%.
A trial serum has been delivered and administered to one American aid worker. There are plans for a phase 1 trial of a vaccine to commence in September. Sad to think this is expected to rage on that long.
Prominently, Dr Sheik Umar Khan, the leader of Sierra Leone’s efforts to contain the virus, died a few days ago from the disease.
Could this turn into a wider global outbreak? Yes. Definitely. Ebola can be spread from contact with body fluids in the early symptomatic phase of the disease. Early symptoms such as fever, headache, and diarrhea can easily be mistaken for other conditions. Patients do NOT normally have external bleeding in the early stages of the disease. So a family member who contacts the soiled bedding of an ill loved one may be exposed to the disease.
Couldn’t the virus mutate and thereby possibly pass more easily? I believe I read this strain is already a little different from other ebola strains in the past.
Sorry, the time machine is in use, and won’t be back until it’s made stops at Golgotha, Ford’s Theater, Braunau am Inn and the Grassy knoll.
Depends where you are. In some countries, Big Time. In others, not so much.
The current outbreak is described in the research literature as coming from a “divergent variant” of the EBOV subtype, also known as Ebola Zaire. It may be a pre-existing lineage rather than a spread from the Central African locales where EBOV has previously been observed.
It is very similar, close enough to call it the same subtype, but slightly different than what has been previously seen in prior EBOV outbreaks.
Could it become easier to transmit? Yes. The REBOV Ebola subtype (Reston) is transmissible through the air. Fortunately that variant does not cause disease in humans. There was some concern that a strain from a prior EBOV outbreak was showing some signs of limited airborne transmission in tests with animals in a study published in 2012. These findings indicated that EBOV might could be spread in large droplets expelled in a cough or sneeze that are then inhaled and cause infection. This is nowhere near a easily transmitted as influenza, but still a *possible *route of infection.