“That’s very hard to say. In most cases, the answer would be ‘no,’ ” Morse says. “But Ebola is obviously a concern and very virulent. I’d say it’s too early at this point to speculate on what any mutation or any change, even with rapid evolution, might lead to.”
A number of scientists working on the project caught Ebola. “Five of them passed from Ebola,” Sabeti says, including Dr. Shiek Humarr Khan. He was Sierra Leone’s top virologist, who had treated dozens of Ebola patients before catching the virus.
Health workers in Sierra Leone, who talked to NPR in the spring, blamed a lack of proper protective equipment for infections at the government-run hospital in Kenema, where Khan worked.
“The work is just that dangerous,” Sabeti say. “Another British nurse at the hospital has just come down with Ebola. You’re seeing so many infections going on. It’s an extraordinary thing that’s going on right now [in Sierra Leone].”
via Ebola Is Rapidly Mutating As It Spreads Across West Africa : Goats and Soda : NPR.





You must be logged in to post a comment.