Lagos
(NAN) – Researchers at Harvard University, U.S.A. on Friday linked the
outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone to the funeral of
one of its traditional healers.
The traditional healer was alleged to
have been treating Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) patients from neighbouring
Guinea before he contacted the disease and later died.
According to livescience. com, the first case of Ebola was discovered in May in Sierra Leone, after the death of the healer.
The Minister of Health in Sierra Leone
released an official statement that linked the death of the healer to
Ebola, after investigations by his ministry were concluded.
“Investigators found 13 additional cases of Ebola, all in women who attended the burial,” the minister said.
The researchers studied the viruses
isolated from the blood of these patients, as well as subsequent Ebola
patients, to identify the genetic characteristics of the Ebola virus
responsible for the outbreak.
“Understanding how a virus is changing
is critical knowledge to the development of diagnostics, vaccines and
therapeutics, as they usually get specific parts of the viral genome
that might change both between and within outbreaks, said the
researchers.
The findings suggest that the virus was
brought to the region within past decades, likely by an infected bat
traveling from Central Africa.
Earlier work suggested that the virus
was circulating in animals in West Africa for several decades without
having been detected.
“The virus seemed to have made a single
jump from an animal to a person, from there continued its journey
through human-to-human transmission.
“This finding can guide decisions on
whether to focus on human -to -human spread of the virus , or on
minimizing contact with animals, for example by banning the consumption
of bush meat,” the researchers said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO)
reports that over 3,069 persons have been suspected and confirmed as
being infected by the virus, with 1552 deaths globally.
There are no vaccines to prevent infection with Ebola virus or drugs to cure the disease.
An experimental treatment based on
antibiotics, called ZMapp has shown promise in monkeys but it is unclear
whether the drug is effective in treating people.
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