Nigeria Declares State Of Emergency/ Study Finds W. African Ebola Virus Is Undetected New Strain

Zerohedge ^ | 8-8-2014 | Durden

[tcrlaf]

Following the WHO's warnings, (the ironically named) Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a "state of emergency" over the Ebola outbreak that is rapidly escalating in his nation. This comes on the heels of a US medical journal study that finds, as Reuters reports, the Ebola virus that is ravagaing West Africa was not imported from Central Africa but caused by a "new strain" of the disease - raising the specter of further regional epidemics.

Ebola is endemic to Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, South Sudan and Gabon, and scientists initially believed that Central Africa's Zaire strain of the virus was responsible for the outbreak.

However, as Reuters reports:

Using analysis of blood samples from infected patients, however, researchers determined that while the Guinean form of the Ebola virus (EBOV) showed a 97 percent similarity to the Zaire strain, the disease was not introduced from Central Africa.

"This study demonstrates the emergence of a new EBOV strain in Guinea," wrote the group of more than 30 doctors and scientists, who published their preliminary findings on the website of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"It is possible that EBOV has circulated undetected in this region for some time. The emergence of the virus in Guinea highlights the risk of EBOV outbreaks in the whole West African subregion," the report continued.

"What is clear to us from the study is that the virus wasn't brought in from the outside, that it is indigenous," said Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesman for the WHO, which was not involved in authoring the study.

The awful conclusion: "It means there were possibly outbreaks in the past that were just not detected," he said.

[GOPJ]

One report said Ebola victims seemed remarkable healthy almost up to the point of death. That's new. If true this version of the disease could spread quickly.

A benefit of older Ebola was people got too sick to move around... and died quickly. It kept disease spread to a minimum.

More people have died from this Ebola outbreak than from all the other Ebola outbreaks put together. Another sign it's different. Also, this outbreak ‘started’ in several regions of Africa at the same time. Another first. Could this mean a new common carrier... mice? rats? mosquitoes? bedbugs, fleas? Or maybe human carriers who don't 'catch' the disease - but can spread it. I'm amazed the CDC would bring people back before establishing the version...

[backwoods-engineer]

I guess some other "Bob Bullard" decided to try Ebola rather than Yersinia Pestis. (re: Foreign Enemies and Traitors by FR's own Matthew Bracken.)

[Organic Panic]

Goody, better open the borders even more. It’s not fair we Americans have done such a great job eradicated many of the diseases that use to wipe out half the population.

[from occupied ga]

About 25 years ago a couple of people who visited a cave in Kenya got sick with the marburg strain and died. Nothing good comes from Kenya

[P.O.E.]

If you have the stomach for it, watch “Addio Africa”. It’s an early shocksploitation film by the makers of “Mondo Cane”.

It does provide a rare glimpse, having been filmed during the early moments of de-colonization of Africa, and the ensuing descent to cruelty, thievery, etc.

[P.O.E.]

Unless you don’t care if your own citizens die from it

q.v. Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler, etc.

[P.O.E.]

But, he said, you could sit beside someone with Ebola on an airplane and as long as the ill person doesn’t vomit, sneeze or cough on you, and you don’t touch him, you won’t get it

Hasn't this guy ever actually flown on a commercial flight? That's a pretty big "as long as the ill person doesn't..." if you ask me.

[MarMema]

You were so right.

[MarMema]

Does this mean all of those people who tested negative but had symptoms had a new strain of Ebola that wasn't detected?

Strong work. It may be that this test is not as accurate as it was for other strains.

[MarMema]

ZMAPP is a monoclonal antibody altered to be produced by tobacco plants.

I used to work in biotech and we called them magic bullets. I made some myself in my day but against other things.

And I think for ZMAPP it is actually a stew of MABs, not just one. Murine or chimeric.

[independentmind]

I agree that the chances that this Ebola outbreak is related to the deliberate manufacture and/or release of a bioweapon doesn’t make much sense.

However, is it possible that the current strain of the Ebola virus was somehow affected by gain-of-function experiments that are sometimes performed when trying to develop a vaccine?

BTW, I have read that Ebola has a R nought of 1.5. I am not knowledgeable enough to know if this is a historical figure, or would need to be modified for the current outbreak. But I do appreciate your posts—they are quite informative.