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Ebola outbreak: Virus mutating, scientists warn

Thu, 2015-01-29 07:58 — mike kraft

BBC By Tulip Mazumdar Jan. 29, 2015

Scientists tracking the Ebola outbreak in Guinea say the virus has mutated.

Researchers at the Institut Pasteur in France, which first identified the outbreak last March, are investigating whether it could have become more contagious.

They are tracking how the virus is changing and trying to establish whether it's able to jump more easily from person to person

"We know the virus is changing quite a lot," said human geneticist Dr Anavaj Sakuntabhai.

It's not unusual for viruses to change over a period time. Ebola is an RNA virus - like HIV and influenza - which have a high rate of mutation. That makes the virus more able to adapt and raises the potential for it to become more contagious.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31019097

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CDC director 'confident' can get to zero Ebola cases

Tue, 2015-01-13 11:59 — mike kraft

REUTERS Jan. 9, 2015

(Two stories. Scroll down.)

WASHINGTON --The director of the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention said on Tuesday he was "confident" that the Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa can be brought under control but that "we are by no means out of the woods."

Speaking at a breakfast meeting in Washington with public health officials and lawmakers, Dr. Tom Frieden said it is vital that every case of the disease is eliminated.

"I remain very confident we can get to zero cases in this epidemic if we continue the way we're going and nothing unexpected happens," Frieden said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/13/us-health-ebola-frieden-idUSKBN0KM1KG20150113

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USAID: Eyes on Guinea as Liberia, Sierra Leone improve on Ebola

The rate of new Ebola cases in Liberia has plunged, Sierra Leone is beginning to turn the corner in dealing with the deadly virus and health officials are now focused on Guinea, a USAID official said on Tuesday.

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Ebola Kills Nearly 500 Health Care Workers

Wed, 2015-01-07 20:33 — mike kraft

NBC NEWS by Maggie Fox Jan. 7, 2014

The Ebola virus has infected more than 800 health care workers, killing nearly 500 of them, according to the latest numbers released by the World Health Organization Wednesday....

The new numbers on health care workers show that doctors, nurses and other people working at Ebola treatment centers are among those at highest risk. "A total of 838 health-care workers are known to have been infected with Ebola virus disease up to the end of 4 January 2015, 495 of whom have died," WHO said in a statement.

"The marked increase from the total of 678 health-care worker infections reported last week is due to additional cases reported from Sierra Leone that have occurred since the onset of the epidemic. These are not infections that have occurred between the two most recent reporting periods."

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http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/ebola-kills-nearly-500-health-care-workers-n281801

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