Ebola Sudan virus

[Roy Goodacre]

In article <3gq49a$t4t at ns1.CC.Lehigh.EDU> jfs2 at Lehigh.EDU writes:

>    I don't claim to know very much about Ebola Sudan, as I haven't read very
>    much on the subject. I have read that the virus has a case-fatality
>    rate of 50%--so half of the victims die, and do so quickly.  I've also
>    read that the virus is not airborne, but rather is spread through the
>    blood.  It is a member of the filovirus family and has a genome of single
>    stranded RNA.  That's about all I've read.

The stats you give on mortality and spread are correct for this variant (if 
that's the correct word).  Interestingly enough the real source of this and 
other Ebola types and the Marburgh virus is yet to be found in Africa.

For the other filloviruses: Marbugh typically kills 10% of its victims.  Ebola 
Zaire typically kills 90%!

All these viruses are discussed in some detail alongin the book "The Hot Zone" 
by Robert Preston. The book is very good it really gets the message over how 
terrifying these viruses are, although the book is a bit sensational in 
places.  Karl Johnson who first discovered these viruses is quoted at one 
point as being "shit scared of Ebola".  I think this is a view shared by most.

Some information on Ebola can also be found in the following websites:
http://www.bocklabs.wisc.edu/Tutorial.html (Essay on Special Virology Topics) 
http://www.uct.ac.za/microbiology/ebola.html (Emerging Viruses)

Hope this helps.

Dr Roy Goodacre            E-mail: rrg at aber.ac.uk
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URL:   http://gepasi.dbs.aber.ac.uk/roy/chemom.htm
Snail: Inst Biol Sci, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, UK