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SCIENCE NEWS  by Ashley Yaeger                                                      March 26, 2015

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The virus causing the current Ebola epidemic in West Africa is not evolving as quickly as some scientists had suggested.

REGULAR RATE  A genetic analysis suggests that the Ebola virus, shown here in orange, is not evolving as fast as expected.

In a paper last August, researchers reported that the virus (Zaire ebolavirus) was altering its genes almost twice as fast as it had during previous Ebola outbreaks in Central Africa (SN: 9/20/14, p. 7). However, a new genetic analysis shows that the virus is mutating at roughly the same rate as in past outbreaks, researchers report online March 26 in Science. The finding suggests the virus has not become more virulent or transmissible during the West Africa outbreak.

CLICK HERE - RECORDED VIDEO - Dr. Gavin Macgregor-Skinner

ctvnews.ca - March 23, 2015

Public health emergency expert Dr. Gavin Macgregor-Skinner discusses a new report saying faster action would have stopped the spread of Ebola.

CLICK HERE - MSF REPORT AND RELATED INFORMATION

LIVE SCIENCE       by Agata Blaszczak Boxe                                               March 25, 2015

Young children who are infected with Ebola may be more likely to die from the virus than older children or adults who are infected, according to a new study.

The disease has killed about 90 percent of infected children under age 1, and about 80 percent of kids ages 1 to 4 who have been infected. Older children who have been infected with Ebola may have a much better chance of surviving....

"The very youngest of children — neonates  —appear to have the worst outcomes from Ebola," study co-author Dr. Robert Fowler, an associate professor of critical-care medicine at the University of Toronto, said in a statement. (Neonates, or newborns, are babies younger than 1 month.)

WHO  WEEKLY SITUATION REPORT                                         March 25, 2015

Summary