I AM fairly SCARED!!!!

[RYBICKI, ED]

> >is it harmless to them (the same way Ebola Reston kills monkeys, 
but
> 
> There is no animal host for Ebola.  Ebola is not found in nature.

Rubbish!!  According to an Honours student's essay just handed to 
me (A Jacobson, 1994), 

"...Ebola virus, a member of the Filoviridae, burst from obscurity 
with spectacular outbreaks of severe, haemorrhagic fever. It was 
first associated with an outbreak of 318 cases and a case-fatality 
rate of 90% in Zaire and caused 150 deaths among 250 cases in Sudan. 
Smaller outbreaks continue to appear periodically, particularly in 
East, Central and southern Africa. In 1989, a haemorrhagic disease 
was recognized among cynomolgus macaques imported into the United 
States from the Philippines. Strains of Ebola virus were isolated 
from these monkeys. Serologic studies in the Philippines and 
elsewhere in Southeast Asia indicated that Ebola virus is a 
prevalent cause of infection among macaques (Manson 1989)."

...and further:

"...The mode of primary infection and the natural ecology of these 
viruses are unknown. Association with bats has been implicated 
directly in at least 2 episodes when individuals entered the same 
bat-filled cave in Eastern Kenya. Ebola infections in Sudan in 1976 
and 1979 occurred in workers of a cotton factory containing 
thousands of bats in the roof. However, in all instances, study of 
antibody in bats failed to detect evidence of infection, and no 
virus was isolated form bat tissue."

Does not occur in nature?  Then where did it come from, pray?

 
  _________________________________________________________________
 | Ed Rybicki, PhD          | The percentage you're paying is too  |
 | (ed at molbiol.uct.ac.za)   | high-priced, and you're living beyond|
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