It's amazing how our media and nightly news can get things so wrong about some types of threats. Don't get me wrong, I never said the 2 docs treated and released were a threat, they know how to protect others from virus contact. These two are experts. What I did say is that active Ebola virus can remain in some body fluids for up to 60 days after the conclusion of all symptoms.
Where the media really gets it wrong is the notion that the system can handle Ebola given enough time because Ebola overwhelms the immune system. What Ebola actually does is overwhelm the immune system with its sheddase or glycans, this cloud of decoys take out any immune response before those responders can take out the virus.
Human systems respond in a number of ways to Ebola's somewhat unique protective system, responses that include:
1) most immune systems when not compromised by other diseases and hereditary immunal problems pump more and more cytokines into the circulatory system. This cytokine storm causes some of the severe illness associated with all viral infections. This cytokine storm also is part of what leads to death as the cytokines also attack non viral structures in the circulatory system.
2) Some people appear to have the capacity to produce antibodies specific to Ebola, antibodies that target structures on the Ebola surface that do not shed or are low shedders. This this allows these antibodies to penetrate the sheddase cloud and reduces the effects of an Ebola infection and partly accounts for why some people only show symptoms of severe flu.
What the virus does do to that further complicates human defense systems is it subverts various protections within the system. Ebola hijacks macrophages and dendritic cells which allows it to deposit its genetic material into the cells of nearly every organ of the body. This property of Ebola is the part that many misunderstand and misinterpret as the hijacking seems to occur over 1 to 2 weeks as part of the incubation period. So, if the system does not react early enough in the infection, the human system is then overwhelmed as it must send responses to pretty much every part of the body and every organ in order to attack and neutralize the virus. This late response often results in exacerbating the cytokine storm mentioned earlier.
One can be too quick...
