Could ebola go airborne?

Discussion in 'Health & Fitness' started by Magical Realist, Aug 20, 2014.

  1. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    16,608
    "Fears are growing that the most lethal form of the Ebola virus can mutate into an airborne pathogen, making the spread of the terrifying disease more difficult to check.

    It was previously thought the untreatable virus, which causes massive internal bleeding and multiple organ failure, could only be transmitted through contact with infected blood.

    But now Canadian researchers have carried out experiments showing how monkeys can catch the deadly disease from infected pigs without coming into direct contact.

    'Our findings support the hypothesis that airborne transmission may contribute to spread, specifically from pigs to primates, and may need to be considered in assessing transmission from animals to humans in general,' they said.

    The findings come as scores of people in Uganda were yesterday isolated to prevent the spread of a new Ebola outbreak that has already killed three in the country.

    Ebola cause fatal haemorrhagic fevers in humans and many other species of non-human primates. It was first reported in 1976 in Congo and is named for the river where it was recognized. There is no cure or vaccine for it.

    The illness is 'characterised by fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat, and weakness, followed by diarrhoea, vomiting, and stomach pain,' according to the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

    'A rash, red eyes, hiccups and internal and external bleeding may be seen in some patients"..


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...pread-pigs-monkeys-contact.html#ixzz3AsoejioR
     
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  3. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    Is the strain of virus
    the same one which is at present infecting people?
    If not there really isn't much to worry about.


    The virus would kill more people if it was less virulent.
    Its lethality is preventing it from spreading.
     
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