Ebola virus will mutate to become an AIRBORNE disease, expert warns
Discussing the possible future course of the current outbreak, he said: ‘The second possibility is one that virologists are loath to discuss openly but are definitely considering in private: that an Ebola virus could mutate to become transmissible through the air.’
'Real risk' Ebola virus will mutate to become an AIRBORNE disease, expert warns
Dr Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota said virologists are privately concerned the deadly virus could mutate
Currently Ebola can only be transmitted through close contact with a victim's bodily fluids, including blood, vomit and sweat
Dr Osterholm warns if the virus develops it could be transmissible via air
But chair of the Health Protection Agency in the UK Professor David Heymann said it is 'impossible' for scientists to predict any mutation
He said not enough is known about genetics to know if the virus will be able to develop to attach to the receptors in the respiratory system
So far more than 2,000 people have died in the current outbreak
Oxford University scientists today revealed a map showing 15 countries and 22 million people are at risk
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