WHO: Outbreak may be new Ebola strain

Post by **Apoptosis** » Mon May 24, 2004 6:13 pm

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Scientists suspect that a new milder strain of the Ebola virus may have caused the latest outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic fever in southern Sudan, the World Health Organization said Saturday.

Four of the 10 people infected with the Ebola-like virus have died in Yambio, a Sudanese town near the border with Congo, said Abdullahi Ahmed, head of WHO's southern Sudan office.

Tests of blood samples taken to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta indicated that the oubreak is not linked to the known strains of Ebola-like viruses that cause the severe viral infection, Ahmed said.

Gotta love how nature will continue to mutate. I guess one day it wont be good when it mutates into a strain that is able to wipe out the human race!

T-Shirt · Post by **T-Shirt** » Tue May 25, 2004 1:19 am

The good thing about ebola is that it kills so fast that it rarely spreads far in the jungle.
however someone could get infected there and be on a plane to a major population center within a day, before they show symptoms.
imagine the problems of containing an outbreak in a large city.

mrplow · Post by **mrplow** » Tue May 25, 2004 2:10 am

That's the whole problem with all this "exotic" travel people insist upon doing.

We're asking for it, really.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Tue May 25, 2004 3:47 am

I lived in africa for a year and im ok. No ebola, aids, or anything else. I think exotic travel is one of the best things people can do. It helps them see a world that is differnt culturaly. one thing that i found interesting was that i was actualy healthyer when i was living in africa. the food is fresher and there are no antibiotics. this ment that my body had to work harder to defend but once i got used to it i never got sick. now that im back in the USA i get colds and sniffles all the time.

mrplow · Post by **mrplow** » Tue May 25, 2004 3:55 am

I wasn't putting a downer on the whole thing, all I meant was that us Americans/Europeans with our pathetic immune systems travel to far beyond places where the people have differently developed immunities. It's clearly not the best idea ever ;)

I like your comment about the freshness, lack of anitbiotics and the like. We rely far too heavily in the "developed world" on pesticides / antibiotics / other "beneficial" chemicals to the extent that our bodies don't get to develop their defences to simple infections and the like. We'd probably be a lot better off if we didn't use all this crap.

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue May 25, 2004 8:02 am

mrplow is 100% right. We over use all our antibiotics and in the long run it will and is coming back to haunt us. I rarely use them because I don't want my body to become accustomed to them.

Oh well I am off to Computex and ACON4 this weekend for two weeks. So I'll be in Taiwan and China!! I'll be offline pretty much the entire time I believe, but I'm really excited to go to ASIA for the first time to cover these events.

I just hope SARS and EBOLA stay away from me ;) No worries on my end and I'm not going to hide in my hotel. What fun would that be!