Posted on 08/10/2014 12:46:23 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe
I have spent a little time compiling links to threads about the Ebola outbreak in the interest of having all the links in one thread for future reference.
Please add links to new threads and articles of interest as the situation develops.
Thank You all for you participation.
Smokin’ Joe,
The problem here is that what is happening with Ebola is not new for viral diseases.
Given the number of survivors in East Africa and the reality of “Persistent Viral Infections”, Ebola is now endemic to East Africa, period. Dot.
See:
Chapter 46 Persistent Viral Infections
Istvan Boldogh, Thomas Albrecht, and David D. Porter.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8538/
“General Concepts
Definition
Persistent infections are characterized as those in which the virus is not cleared but remains in specific cells of infected individuals. Persistent infections may involve stages of both silent and productive infection without rapidly killing or even producing excessive damage of the host cells. There are three types of overlapping persistent virus-host interaction that may be defined as latent, chronic and slow infection.
Pathogenesis
The mechanisms by which persistent infections are maintained involve both modulation of virus and cellular gene expression and modification of the host immune response. Reactivation of a latent infection may be triggered by various stimuli, including changes in cell physiology, superinfection by another virus, and physical stress or trauma. Host immunosuppression is often associated with reactivation of a number of persistent virus infections.
Persistent Infections by Organ System
Some viruses can establish persistent infection at the same time in different cell types of one or more tissues or organs. For example, the primary site for latency of cytomegalovirus is thought to be peripheral blood monocytes, but the virus may induce disease and can be detected in cells of several organs (e.g., kidney, lung, and those of the digestive or central nervous system). Table-1 categorizes selected human viruses by organ systems in which the virus is believed to be primarily persistent.
In Vitro Models of Persistence
Three kinds of persistent infection can be maintained in cell cultures: chronic focal, chronic diffuse, and latent. These infections may model key aspects of persistent infections in vivo.
Control
No measures to eradicate persistent viruses have been developed. Vaccination, interferon and antiviral drugs can reduce the frequency of clinical recurrence and ameliorate clinical symptom, yet the virus continues to remain associated with the host.
Go to:
Introduction
Medical science has begun to control a number of acute virus infections, many by drug treatment and/or immunization, but persistent virus infections are largely uncontrolled. Diseases caused by persistent virus infections include acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), AIDS-related complexes, chronic hepatitis, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (chronic measles encephalitis), chronic papovavirus encephalitis (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy), spongioform encephalopathies (caused by prions), several herpesvirus-induced diseases, and some neoplasias. The pathogenic mechanisms by which these viruses cause disease include disorders of biochemical, cellular, immune, and physiologic processes. Ongoing studies are rapidly advancing our understanding of many persistent infections. Viruses have evolved a wide variety of strategies by which they maintain long-term infection of populations (see Ch. 48), individuals, and tissue cultures. This chapter primarily describes persistent infections in vivo and focuses on viruses that persist in humans.”
>snip<
Thanks! Like Chicken Pox and Shingles, the virus persists after the initial infection is over, and the recurrence can take a different form.
Ebola is now a proven STD.
And it can survive in it’s surviving hosts at least 10 months.
That makes it “endemic to West Africa” in my book.
It also means it is only a matter of time before Ebola returns to the USA via a sexual transmission case from an Ebola survivor who immigrates to the USA.
UN: 2 new Ebola cases in Guinea show virus still spreading
http://kdwn.com/2015/10/18/un-2-new-ebola-cases-in-guinea-show-virus-still-spreading/
Oct 18
The World Health Organization says there were two new cases of Ebola in Guinea this week, ending two consecutive weeks in West Africa when no cases of the devastating disease were reported.
The two new patients were not previously identified contacts being tracked by health authorities, suggesting that officials are still unable to monitor everyone exposed to Ebola. WHO spokeswoman Dr. Margaret Harris said Friday the U.N. health agency had expected to see more cases despite the recent lull in the epidemic. She added the cases were in areas where scientists knew Ebola was spreading.
In an update this week, WHO said there was a “near-term risk of further cases among both registered and untraced contacts.”
To date, Ebola has killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa.
bkmk
Thanks for the post. I agree with your assessment. BTTT.
Wonderful...NOT!
This is scary.
A new born has Ebola, both parents test healthy.
No one knows why.
http://en.starafrica.com/news/guinea-newborn-tests-positive-for-ebola-despite-healthy-parents.html
November 1, 2015
A baby born to “healthy parents†has tested positive for the Ebola virus in the town of Forecariah in Guinea near the border with Sierra Leone, Fodé Tass Sylla, the communication officer of the national response coordination against the epidemic confirmed on Sunday. In a local radio interview, Mr. Sylla described the newborn’s infection as an unusual case in the spread of the devastating disease.
The communication officer announced that Guinean Prime Minister, Mohamed Said Fofana and his government have been informed about the new case involving a baby, whose parents were not diagnosed with Ebola following tests in specialized laboratories.
To date, only four confirmed cases are reported in Guinea with another three suspected ones, he said.
Ping...to post 5009...
Bump
Well, check the mailman...
All that and more.
It is also possible that the male parent of record is not the daddy, or that infidelity exposed the fetus to the virus in utero (from the semen of a survivor).
When this outbreak was fresh, it was said we really did not understand the disease, and we’re learning more every day.
I would want to see some stringent verification that the newborn does, indeed, have Ebola virus.
While I could propose a hypothesis whereby the mother had a sub-clinical case of Ebola and developed an adequate immune response, but not before the baby was infected, and her antibodies protected the baby just enough to prevent it from dying—I want to see confirmation.
There was a case where a newborn or preborn baby got Ebola and survived, but that was an exception. Most of the time, babies in utero die quickly from Ebola, and their mothers usually do not survive either.
That’s an interesting article—it caught my attention until my husband came down and said, “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for work?”
I will say, however, that I am unaware of any particular features of Ebolavirus that would cause it to be able to establish a low-level persistent infection. For one thing, it is a strictly RNA virus, with no DNA intermediate. Thus, it cannot conceal its genetic material within the host cell, either integrated into the chromosome or as an extra-chromosomal plasmid.
The only comparable virus that can hide in the body for long periods is the measles virus. I do not have time (and will not for the next several days) to compare the genomes of measles and Ebola to see if there are comparable features that would suggest that a similar mechanism in Ebola is plausible.
So far, the Ebolavirus has been shown to “survive” in immune privileged sites such as the seminal vesicles and interior of the eyes. I think that this is a purely physical presence, and that the virus is stabilized by the controlled pH and salt content of the fluids, rather than its establishing a low-level infection in those areas. I would think that as the fluids in those sites are slowly replaced, the virus will slowly be removed through dilution (and the removed virus will be destroyed by the immune system).
Dear Lord, this becomes more monstrous as time goes on.
Thanks for this. Father and baby need to be DNA matched. If the match indicates they are biologically related - father and son - we have a real problem here.
exDemMom,
One of the first rules of science of is to admit what we don’t know
We have never had this many Ebola infected and Ebola survivors before to characterize one in one hundred, one in 1,000 and one in 10,000 infection and survivor case histories.
According to mid-Sept 2015 WHO data, the totals in the outbreak region are at 28,295 confirmed, probable, or suspected cases and 11,295 deaths.
Healthcare worker infections as of that date were at 881 infections, 513 of them fatal.
That is in the neighborhood of ~30,000 infections (given the reality of sub-clinical infection) and 15,000 plus survivors.
Good point.
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