Ebola’s West African Rampage Was Likely Bolstered by a Mutation

      The article I chose is on the most recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. The article states that the un-curable virus infected more than 28,000 people during the most recent epidemic. This is shown to have been the deadliest outbreak thus far, with more people infected, and more deaths than all of the other Ebola outbreaks combined.

Two research teams: The University of Massachusetts, and the University of Nottingham both conducted the same study, but in different regions affected in Africa. Their purpose was to find out why this recent outbreak has shown to be uniquely deadlier than all the others. Each team was unaware of the other teams' research until it was time to publish their results. Each teams' results were the same, which is why this article is credible.
The first research team ie. The University of Mass. studied several regions in West Africa: Liberia, Sierre Leon, and Guinea. Their findings showed a minute change in the virus that enables it to penetrate the human cell faster, and those infected with the mutated version of the virus were twice as likely to die. The University of Mass. research team analyzed genomes and outcomes for patients in Guinea for the un-mutated version of the virus versus the mutated. They were back tracking to see how much (viremia) of the virus was inside of the bodies, to make sure the upstanding death rates weren't just due to more people being infected/rapid transmission rates. The findings showed that the mutated virus was in fact deadlier. They also found that the mutated version of Ebola was less likely to gain entry to non-primate animals such as cats, dogs, and rodents.
      The second research team, The University of Nottingham did their study on the area of Mali and had similar conclusions as the University of Mass.' team. "Genomic analysis and cell experiments revealed that a gene encodes instructions for an Ebola surface protein, which helps the virus to attach to host cells, had evolved to allow the pathogen easier entry to human cells. Another quote, from Jonathan Ball, the direct of the University of Nottinghams' research team "What we think is that the changes in the way its surface protein interacts with the surface of the host cell make it more efficient so that [infection] can happen quicker. Ebola may have developed other important mutations that have not yet been uncovered. What they now know, is that Ebola has mutated in a way that can impact the virus' ability to infect human cells, and we saw those changes being passed from generation to generation of viruses. To us, that's a bit of a smoking gun." Nottinghams' research group performed experiments that found that the mutation that enabled the virus to rapidly spread and overtake the humans' immune system, actually made it less effective at infecting its source: fruit bats.
      What I learned from this article is that a virus can actually mutate so much, that is can become a specific rand of deadly force, for a specific species. I learned that this specific mutation in Ebola made it even deadlier for humans, yet barely effected other "non" primate animals. This effects and is relevant to society as a whole because of how easily transmittable this mutated version of Ebola is. I understand the absolute need for quarantine for those infected by it. People aren't very isolated anymore with airplane travel available. People can go from one end of the globe to another in just hours. This virus could travel around the entire earth in days, not weeks, because of how quickly this mutated version of Ebola works. This mutation has lead to higher viremia, meaning there is more virus inside of the body, and due to its easier penetration of the human cell- it is frighteningly easy for the Ebola virus to completely overtake the human body, very quickly.
      The main reason why I chose this article and why it stuck out to me was actually due to me reading a book called "Hot Zone" about Ebola and another disease called "Marburg virus." I read this book prior to 2013 and was deeply impressioned by how horrific the outcomes were due to both of these viruses.The people infected from Ebola and Marburg (which are both very similar viruses in how it effects the human body) suffered greatly; their skin sloughed off, their organs liquified, and they were bleeding profusely from every open surface on their body. Thousands upon thousands died.
I remember thinking "I hope this doesn't happen in my lifetime." Two years later Africa had an outbreak and they have been struggling to contain and treat it ever since.

Written by Haleigh W.
source: Scientific American [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ebola-s-west-african-rampage-was-likely-bolstered-by-a-mutation/]