Ebola, _POSSIBLE_ international outbreak

[Jason Fagone]

On Sun, 14 May 1995, James T. McKinley wrote:
> 
> Now for a question for the virology types:
> 
> Given that Ebola Reston is so close to Ebola Zaire that they are difficult to 
> tell apart, and that Ebola Reston is apparently harmless in humans, would it 
> be possible to use Ebola Reston as a vaccine for Ebola Zaire?  I know it 
> would be hard to test since Ebola Reston kills monkeys just like Ebola Zaire,
> but if it really came down to it, might it work?  Has nature provided us 
> with a ready 
[...]

According to Richard Preston's _The Hot Zone_, technically, Ebola Reston
is still classified as a Biosafety 4 Hot Agent, in the same class as Ebola
Zaire. Geneticists have picked apart the Reston gene sequence and have not
been able to find any significant differences when compared to the Zaire
sequence. The CDC virologists who work with Reston do so in Chemturion
space suits and heavy rubber gloves. They don't want to mess with the
stuff.

And given that this virus is so prone to sudden mutation, I resent the
media's complacency that Reston is somehow a powder-puff virus.

Also, where did the media get the idea that Zaire could not be airborne?
As noted in a previous post, Zaire has been shown to be capable of
airborne travel, and Reston proved even better adapted to air travel.

-- 
Jason Fagone                                 "Weekends don't count unless
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