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Ebola Outbreak Boosts Odds of Mutation Helping It Spread

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-15/ebola-outbreak-boosts-odds-of-mutation-helping-it-spread.html?hootPostID=5741aa3847631df2f4d27b3ef5182eee

Researchers have identified more than 300 new viral mutations in the latest strain of Ebola, according to research published in the journal Science last month. They are rushing to investigate if this strain of the disease produces higher virus levels -- which could increase its infectiousness.

There’s no evidence yet that the virus is spreading faster than in earlier outbreaks, said Cliff Lane, deputy director for clinical research and special projects at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland.

One dire scientific scenario is that the virus could somehow mutate in a way that allowed it to be transmitted through tiny particles that linger the air, in the same way that measles is thought to spread.

That is highly unlikely to happen for a variety of reasons, five Ebola virus researchers interviewed by Bloomberg News said.

Ebola would have to “do something pretty drastic” to change its route into the body, said Robert Garry, a virologist at Tulane University. It is not designed for getting into respiratory cells, he said.

“We know which parts of the virus bind to human cells,” Garry said. “Those parts are not changing.”