Posted on 10/10/2014 8:45:15 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe
Program Description
In December, 2013, in a small village in West Africa, a young boy died from the dreaded disease, Ebola. Over the next nine months the virulent killer would claim more victims than all previous Ebola epidemics put together. And for the first time, the disease escaped the isolated, rural villages where it had first appeared and traveled in infected patients by...
(Excerpt) Read more at pbs.org ...
The question I have is, were did EBOLA come from? Some say from the fruit bats, but I wonder.
A link to this thread has been posted on the Ebola Surveillance Thread
Migratory fruit bats appear to be the reservoir species for Ebola and Marburg. That also fits the pattern of sporadic and widespread outbreaks, in the past in rural settings. Either the bats, eaten as a delicacy, or non-human primates infected through contact (likely) with bat feces while getting fruit for their own consumption and in turn eaten as “bushmeat”, or in the process of butchering either, the disease is passed on to humans. There may be other vectors.
Patient Zero in this case is believed to have been a two-year-old boy known to have eaten undercooked fruit bat before contracting the disease. This boy died in Guinea on December 6, 2013, four days after initial symptoms were reported to have been observed. This fruit bat exposure is consistent with the conclusion that Ebola resides in chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope, and porcupines between outbreaks, with fruit bats as the primary natural host.
None of the (unprotected) workers got sick at that facility.
It is deadly to monkeys.
Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) is the main one involved in the current West African Outbreak and is the most deadly with average mortality of 83% (up to 90% in outbreaks), but has mutated to vary slightly (as much as 3%), which can be significant.
The other variants are Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV, mortality rate 53 to 68%) , Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV, 34% mortality), and Taï Forest ebolavirus (TAFV, no fatal cases known).
Do the survivors have antibodies that could be used to produce vaccine? Can they be reinfected or are they now immune?
The Reston Ebola virus is the topic of the excellent 1994 book, The Hot Zone, which is probably available at your library. Reads like a novel, but every word is true. Ebola Reston killed 500 monkeys brought from the Philippines for research purposes; the few humans who were bitten by them did not become ill. Ebola Zaire is overwhelmingly deadly to humans.
If you wish, you can get The Hot Zone from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Zone-Terrifying-Story-Origins/dp/0385479565/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412959703&sr=1-1&keywords=the+hot+zone
The most infectious fluids are blood, feces and vomit, although the virus has also been detected in breast milk, urine and semen, according to the World Health Organization. Saliva and tears may also carry some risk.
Thank-you for the confirmation of my own research.
Amazing that the natural host, the fruit bats carry the disease without suffering from the effects of it from what I had seen online.
Thank-you! Bookmarked!
I think it can infect but does not cause symptoms in humans. The Philippines hog farm worker definitely was infected but caused him no problems.
Frankly, I do not know if you can be reinfected.
You’re Welcome!
I stand corrected, there was evidence that the workers had been exposed, but they never developed symptoms.
Black Agnes gets the credit for forwarding me the link.
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