Ebola virus mutated to easily infect people in outbreak, studies found
Two studies have found a mutation in the Ebola virus that increased its ability to easily infect human cells fourfold during the first few months of the 2014-2015 outbreak, which is the largest in recorded history.
The Ebola virus causes an acute, serious illness which is often fatal if untreated.
Scientists have argued that the mutation may have played a pivotal role in the outbreak where 28,616 Ebola cases were recorded in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone resulting in the deaths of 11,310 people.
The genetic codes of nearly 2,000 Ebola virus samples were analyzed by researchers at the University of Nottingham in the UK and the University of Massachusetts in the US.
They noticed a change in surface of the virus that allowed it to lock on to human cells more easily which made it more infectious, according to Professor Jeremy Luban, from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Luban also added that the mutation occurred early in the outbreak, maybe three or four months in.
Professor Jonathan Ball, from the University of Nottingham, said an up to fourfold increase in infectivity was “not trivial”.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa was not just the biggest of all time, but it was bigger than all other outbreaks combined.
One reason for Ebola’s explosive spread was that the virus managed to get into dense urban cities such as Monrovia in Liberia.
Luban also said that although there is a possibility that the mutation may have contributed to the severity of the outbreak, they cannot conclusively answer that question.
The research provided other insights into the changes taking place in the Ebola virus as well.As the virus evolved to more readily infect people, it became less able to infect its likely natural host species – fruit bats.
The people infected with the mutant form of the virus were also more likely to die than those infected with the original version of the virus.
This runs slightly contrary to the prevailing thought that as Ebola spent more time in people it would evolve to become less deadly in order to help it spread.
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