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Untouchable: Is The Ebola Virus Mutating Before Our Eyes
by Joseph Earnest September 10, 2014
Newscast Media HAMBURG—US President Barack Obama says the Ebola virus, currently attacking western Africa, could mutate - making it even more dangerous. The virus has already changed its genome, with unknown consequences.
Every virus mutates to adapt to its surroundings. Ebola is no exception. When President Barack Obama announced the deployment of US forces to West Africa he said in an interview on Sunday that immediate intervention was vital.
Otherwise, said Obama, Ebola could mutate, making it more easily transmittable, "and then it could be a serious danger to the United States."
The longer a virus circulates, the more it changes its genetic material.
"Even a single change in the genome can have huge consequences," says Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, a virologist at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg.
He confirms that mutations can increase the contagiousness of a virus.
Mutations could also make the illness break out sooner, or alternate the course of the disease - increasing the potential of a patient's developing encephalitis.
The disease could also become airborne. And that would be disastrous: the infection rate would increase exponentially.
The flu virus is known for its ability to mutate rapidly. As a result, researchers aim to develop a new flu vaccine every year.
Within the space of every twelve months, the flu virus changes its genome so much that the last year's vaccine is rendered in effective.
"But luckily, Ebola is different," says Schmidt-Chanasit.
Ebola mutates slowly. But it mutates fast enough for it to be able to develop a resistance to any future vaccines and drugs.
For now, though, all attention is focused on the present.
And Schmidt-Chanasit says there are greater challenges than learning how the virus is mutating.
"What makes the situation in West Africa so devastating, are the circumstances," he says.
There are too few hospitals beds, too few medical personnel, and too many people at risk in a crowded part of the world. Add Comments>>
Source: Deutsche Welle
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