It is hard to find a person who has not heard about Ebola, this deadly virus has spread worldwide, through news and quite literally. The Ebola virus is believed to have originated in a “traditional healer” in West Africa. This traditional healer had been dealing with bats which most likely gave her the disease, then she she died and the people who buried her had caught the virus from dealing with her dead body. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) has done much research and tests which have shown that Ebola can only be transmitted if one comes in contact with an infected person’s blood or other body fluids. In this sense it is very similar to how HIV/AIDS is transmitted. And the researchers have declared that Ebola cannot be spread through air, water, or food. But many people are wondering, how long will it take before the virus has evolved enough to be airborne.
Today, Ebola can only be spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, but CNN news announces that “some of the nation’s top infectious disease experts worry that this deadly virus could mutate and be transmitted just by a cough or a sneeze.” Medical experts speculate it could possibly mutate into a form that could be spread through the air. Ebola is a virus of the RNA, which means that every time it copies itself, it makes one or two mutations. Many of the mutations are meaningless, but some of them might be able to alter the way the virus behaves inside the body. “Every time a new person gets Ebola, the virus gets another chance to mutate and develop new capabilities.” (CNN) The chances are relatively small that the virus will mutate enough to become airborne, but as the virus spreads the likelihood increases for this transition. “One group of researchers looked at how Ebola changed over a short period of time in just one area in Sierra Leone early on in the outbreak, before it was spreading as fast as it is now. They found more than 300 genetic changes in the virus.” (CNN)On the other hand, The World Health Organization (WHO) doubts that Ebola will change to airborne because they have not heard of any virus that has drastically changed it’s mode of transmission. The scare of Ebola mutating into an airborne virus is just a speculation, there is no solid research evidence to back it up.So as of now, we are safe from a deadly airborne disease. But it may only be a matter of time before the virus has mutated enough to potentially evolve into an airborne disease.http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/12/health/ebola-airborne/
http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-we-be-more-concerned-about-the-potential-of-airborne-ebola
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Ebola-Virus-How-It-Spreads-FAQ-277662521.html
I, along with everyone else, am very worried about this disease but before we talk about worse case scenarios, you should calm your mind and read these excellent points.
http://elitedaily.com/news/world/why-you-shouldnt-buy-into-the-ebola-hype/784344/
Ebola is so talked about now your post was very interesting. I know I’m worrying 24-7 about ebola and how it is contracted. You should check out this article it talks more about the transmission of the disease itself and more importantly how to protect yourself from it. http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/qa.html