Could Ebola Now Be Airborne? New Research Shows Lethal Virus Can Be Spread From Pigs To Monkeys Without Contact

• Findings come as scores of Ugandans are isolated in latest outbreak
• Untreatable virus causes internal bleeding and multiple organ failure
• Previously thought to be transmitted only by direct contact

By Damien Gayle

PUBLISHED:08:27 EST, 16 November 2012| UPDATED:08:38 EST, 16 November 2012
 

Fears are growing that the most lethal form of the Ebola virus can mutate into an airborne pathogen, making the spread of the terrifying disease more difficult to check.

It was previously thought the untreatable virus, which causes massive internal bleeding and multiple organ failure, could only be transmitted through contact with infected blood.

But now Canadian researchers have carried out experiments showing how monkeys can catch the deadly disease from infected pigs without coming into direct contact.

Deadly: The Ebola virus, which causes fever-like symptoms, usually followed by organ failure and unstoppable bleeding, and eventually death. New research shows that it could be transmitted through the air

‘Our findings support the hypothesis that airborne transmission may contribute to spread, specifically from pigs to primates, and may need to be considered in assessing transmission from animals to humans in general,’ they said.

The findings come as scores of people in Uganda were yesterday isolated to prevent the spread of a new Ebola outbreak that has already killed three in the country.

Ebola cause fatal haemorrhagic fevers in humans and many other species of non-human primates. It was first reported in 1976 in Congo and is named for the river where it was recognized. There is no cure or vaccine for it.

The illness is ‘characterised by fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat, and weakness, followed by diarrhoea, vomiting, and stomach pain,’ according to the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

‘A rash, red eyes, hiccups and internal and external bleeding may be seen in some patients.’

The virus is known to be transmitted through direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person, or objects that have been contaminated with infected secretions.

It is often spread during communal funerals where there has been an outbreak when the bereaved come into contact with an Ebola victim.

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