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New Ebola strain identified in Uganda
[mis à jour le 31 December 2008 à 14h25]
Ebola hemorrhagic fever has yet another nasty surprise in store for us! While American researchers were announcing the “deactivation” of the virus last January, an international team led by the Atlanta Centers for Disease Control identified a new strain of the Ebola virus. This is already ravaging Uganda and appears to be every bit as formidable as the more familiar strain.
The new virus is genetically different from all earlier ones and is at the root of numerous deaths in the west of Uganda over the last year or so, the authors point out in the specialist journal Plos Pathogens. This is bad news and further complicates the battle against this terrible disease.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever results in death in 50% to 90% of cases … And at present there is no treatment or specific vaccine available. The virus is transmitted by direct contact with blood, bodily secretions and the organs or sperm of those infected. The first symptoms are sudden fever, muscle pain and headache. These signs are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea and kidney problems, eventually leading to internal and external haemorrhaging. It is a true serial killer.
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