Latest: One of the positive facts in the current Ebola pandemic is that the virus is relatively difficult to transmit. That life-saving limitation may change say Institut Pasteur scientists studying the virus. Blood samples from Guinea are beginning to be genetically sequenced and show that the virus is changing dramatically. Ebola is an RNA-type virus like influenza which mutate rapidly. A previous study in Sierra Leone shows that Ebola mutated considerably in the first 24 days of the outbreak In several known cases the infected individuals are asymptomatic. Such people could spread the virus further before they are detected, if at all. The greatest fear is that over time the Ebola virus could mutate to become an airborne desease. So far there is no evidence that is happening. Ebola is only known to be passed through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected persons. The survival rate of the pandemic is currently 40%. One of the new Ebola vaccines being worked on is a modification of a widely used measles vaccine. A measles outbreak is spreading through seven western states and is attributed by some health experts as a consequence of low vaccination rates amoung children.
{19.01.15}Mali's health minister declared Sunday that his country is free of the Ebola pandemic, forty-two days after the last patient tested negative for the virus. The World Health Organization counts 8400 killed by the outbreak in West Africa. Mali shares a border with Guinea which together with Liberia and Sierra Leone is the epicenter of the pandemic. The disease entered the country through a two-year old girl from Guinea who died in Kayes, Mali.
Guinea announced it will reopen schools Monday because the situation has improved according to its health minister who attended an economic summit of West African states. Liberia has said it will reopen schools next month. Sierra Leone is the hardest hit of the three nations and it has no plans to reopen schools yet. In a recent 24 hour monitoring period, 16 new Ebola cases were discovered in Sierra Leone. The current Ebola virus pandemic is the worst in world history with more than 21,000 reported cases. Actual cases of hemoragic fever are probably twice that number.
At least fifty hot-spots of infection remain in the region. Progress is being made against the disease as people are educated in how the disease spreads. Local communities are asked to change their rituals and burial practices which allow contact with bodily fluids containing Ebola viruses. Scientists think that a resevoir of the viral strain exists in fruit bats of the region which are considered a prime bush meat delicacy. Butchering of these mammals puts people into contact with their blood and other fluids that may contain live viruses. So natives may also have to change their eating habits too. Health workers say they are beginning to note changes in behavior as a result of their education efforts. Meanwhile, vaccine development is going forward with final trials expected to take place in the next month or two. At this stage in development, two vaccines, one made by GlaxoSmithKline and the other licensed by Merck, appear to be safe.