[Kelly_2000]

"We seem to have been through far more generations in this outbreak than in the past, and still no sign of genetic instability/burnout. Why not??"

We have no way of knowing unless we find someone who is directly involved in the research.I had that door firmly closed in my face yesterday.By know there should be a marked difference in the index case and subsequent cases in terms of symptoma, mortality rate and virulence. Virus are supposed to get less virulent by generation in any given outbreak NOT the reverse.

[FYREDEUS]

Wouldnt an ability to consistently maintain a high mortality rate and virulence while resisting burnout over an extended period of generations be a 'desirable' :-( characteristic for a weaponized virus?

Wouldnt an ability to take a high toll among health care workers also be a 'desirable' :( characteristic in a weaponized virus?

On the other hand this isnt airborne...a bioweapon should be more easily spread non?

Might a bioweapon designer perhaps SEPARATELY develop two viral lines; one designed to maximize lethality with reduced transmissibility, another designed to maximize transmissibility with reduced lethality, to 'test release' into the wild for experimental verification of their 'improved' :-( characteristics FIELD-effectiveness BEFORE combining those lines characteristics into one [chimera?] viral 'super-weapon'?

Or am I sounding too 'Tom Clancy'/'foil beanie brigade' here?

Please forgive a laypersons ignorance if so.

[EternalHope]

Glad to see you back. We all look forward to whatever insight you can contribute.

The Angolan government is clearly lying about the outbreak, which only feeds speculation and rumor. We have no idea how many victims there really are.

WHO and MSF are defering to the wishes of the host government, although both have made it clear that things are not as portrayed by the Angolan Minister of Health.

Given the atypical nature of this outbreak, I would REALLY like to see some genetic comparisons between this variant of Marburg and that of past outbreaks. Why is it so stable? Why is it so lethal?

I'd also like to know how quickly it dies when exposed to air, how much is needed to cause infection, and when a person becomes contagious. Given all the things that have changed, simple reliance on previously published information about Marburg does not seem reasonable.