Thread: Ebola outbreak
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Old 08-05-2014, 11:06 PM
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That might be a bit of an overreaction at this point, but my concerns are certainly raised.

This strain seems to have moved closer to the slate wiper strain than any prior one. Years ago I felt that 5 or 6 mutations would be necessary for a truly scary Ebola to emerge. I think this one has certainly moved forward in 2 of them.

It has shown
Longer incubation
Greater ease is infection beyond blood-borne

This one might be able to survive in an aerosol longer than prior strains, but I am not ready to concede that it is airborne. There still seems to be a need for contact with fluid generated outside of the respiratory system.

If the strain does go airborne where someone can infect anther via exhaling and it is found new infections can occur when a patient is asymptomatic, I could see some pretty draconian measures being pulled out.

Last edited by kato13; 08-06-2014 at 09:38 PM. Reason: clairified my thoughts on respiratory infectivity
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