“...cold damp weather actually enhances the virus survival.”
New one on me, but I’m no expert by any means. ‘Damp’ I would agree with, and yes, a virus can crystalize at freezing temperatures. But they would be stopped ‘cold’ in the short run. Buys us a little time. But on the other hand, our southernmost states will be breeding grounds.
And mosquitoes will be difficult to avoid. From my personal experience, a single mosquito can drink blood multiple times [contrary to what the authorities claimed when West Nile Virus broke out].
We also need to consider bats. We have vampire bats in the US which drink the blood of livestock. If that kind of bat becomes a carrier, then we have a major problem. Fruit bats would be eaten by some peoples’ pets, but that’s not as big a threat.
For your reference on cold temperatures.
The survival of filoviruses in liquids, on solid substrates and in a dynamic aerosol
Data on the survival of filoviruses on substrates and in liquid media presented in this study should be set within the context of the infectivity of the viruses. It has been reported that the infectious dose of filoviruses for mice and nonhuman primates is low (e.g. 400 PFU, Johnson et al. 1995; 1 PFU, Bray et al. 1999). Studies with the wild-type ZEBOV and MARV strains used in these survival studies in a susceptible mouse model demonstrated 100% mortality with <10 TCID50 of either virus by the aerosol or intraperitoneal challenge route (M.S. Lever, personal communication). These low infectious dose reports suggest that if the initial viral titre is high, infectious quantities of viable virus could be recovered from samples stored at +4°C for periods of up to 46 days in liquid media, and from samples dried onto glass at both 26 and 50 days. This demonstrates the need for good control measures when handling and disposing of clinical samples that may be contaminated with filoviruses.
It seems North American winters will be much more Ebola friendly than West Africa. Fomites in urban settings will be an exceptional risk.