An outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo that began April 22 has resulted in at least one death and possibly two others, according to the World Health Organization.
The Congo Ministry of Health notified the WHO on Tuesday of nine suspected cases of Ebola illness and three deaths in the Likati health district within the northeastern province of Bas-Uele, which shares a border with the Central African Republic.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Health informed the WHO that of five samples, one tested positive for the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus at the National Institute of Biomedical Research laboratory in Kinshasa, the capital…
The Zaire strain of the virus is one of the most lethal. A 2007 outbreak of this strain in Congo had a fatality rate of 74%, claiming 200 lives.
It is not impossible that as you read this, there are a couple of people with flu-like symptoms who are boarding planes on their way to the US, because that is the only way they think they will survive.
If this is a virus from the last outbreak that has persisted in a host this long, that could be a problem.
That would mean the virus was knocked back by the host’s immune system, but a few virus particles here and there kicked around inside the host until one developed some new mutation that allowed it to overcome the immune system of a host that had already developed immunity.
That may mean this new version could be more potent and better able to overcome the human immune system, and we will have another aggressive outbreak on our hands again.
If that is the case, then we are that much closer to the real fear, which is that one of the trillions of virus particles produced by this will have the ability to go airborne. When that happens, then you’ll have an Apocalypse.
During the 2013-2015 outbreak, Ebola got access to more hosts than it ever had before. That gave it more opportunities to mutate and adapt. African’s immune systems are growing weaker as they crowd into slums- that will continue driving epidemics. Ebola will become a seasonal disease, just like the flu. Interestingly, Africa’s populations may continue growing despite the increased mortality. As we get closer to the events/tribulations etc. expect to see an ever increasing number of epidemics.
[…] Ebola Is Back Again […]