212 Ebola messages in my mailbox...

[Patrick O'Neil]

On 14 May 1995, Jane E. Hawkins wrote:

> 
> Question: The dim recesses of my memory say the the index cases for the 
> last two Ebola outbreaks both worked in cotton mills. I recall one such 
> mill being virtually pulled to pieces in an attempt to find an insect, 
> animal, or any organic matter with traces of the virus, to no avail.
> 

 I read of that and now wonder if they really did attempt to locate some 
sort of animal or insect-borne host and exclude plants.  I wonder at the 
possibility that ebola might reside in plants.  Just brainstorming, and I 
can envision problems for a virus to hop from the physiological 
environment of a plant to the completely different environment of an 
animal, especially since we have active immune systems of a nature far 
different than a plant...

Patrick