Professor of Biological Sciences says Zaire strain of Ebola 'primed' to go airborne - Experts skeptical

[nola_mnr]

http://www.newsnet5.com/nct/health/...s-zaire-strain-of-ebola-primed-to-go-airborne

[...]
At Purdue University, Dr. David Sanders has been studying the virus since 2003 ? specifically how this particular Zaire strain of Ebola enters human cells.

While the virus has thus far only been shown to be transferred via bodily fluids, Sanders argues that it could become airborne.

"It can enter the lung from the airway side," Sanders said. "So this argues that Ebola is primed to have respiratory transmission.

[...]
Indiana University (Bloomington) is planning an educational forum from noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday in Whittenberger Auditorium in Indiana Memorial Union. If you can't make it in-person, you can watch a live video stream of the forum here.

http://news.indiana.edu/releases/iu/2014/10/ebola-forum.shtml

 

[nola_mnr]

Re: Professor of Biological Sciences says Zaire strain of Ebola 'primed' to go airborne

Re: Professor of Biological Sciences says Zaire strain of Ebola 'primed' to go airborne

For context, there are also many other experts who believe it is extremely unlikely that Ebola will become airborne. e.g.

http://www.vox.com/2014/9/19/6543157/ebola-is-unlikely-to-go-airborne
[...]
This is a scary scenario. But fortunately for the world, most infectious disease experts remain very skeptical that Ebola will ever become airborne. "This is way down on the list of possible futures for Ebola and in all probability will never happen," explained Ian Jones, a virologist with the University of Reading, back in September.
[...]

 

[Dani]

Re: Professor of Biological Sciences says Zaire strain of Ebola 'primed' to go airborne

Re: Professor of Biological Sciences says Zaire strain of Ebola 'primed' to go airborne

But isn't this true of any pathogen? Mucous membranes are typically the point of invasion, and the lung is a giant mucous membrane.

Heck, I remember getting ecoli in high school from poor pipetting technique with pharyngeal deposition (Don't ask, it's kind of embarrassing the mistakes we make in our youth).

If you breathe in enough of any virus, you'll probably contract it.

 

[Nika]

Re: Professor of Biological Sciences says Zaire strain of Ebola 'primed' to go airborne

Re: Professor of Biological Sciences says Zaire strain of Ebola 'primed' to go airborne

there IS tissue specificity tho the gross contamination of lung tissue can lead to disease even if the virus isn't one that prefers lung tissues.

 

[Nika]

Re: Professor of Biological Sciences says Zaire strain of Ebola 'primed' to go airborne

Re: Professor of Biological Sciences says Zaire strain of Ebola 'primed' to go airborne

Its important to not dismiss any scientific view reflexively, even if its disturbing (thought of virulent respiratory ebola qualifies as disturbing).

Sanders does interesting research using recombinant pseudo typed viruses with gene therapy genomes encapsulated within.

He uses ebola coat proteins (GP) on his pseudo typed viruses and reports that introduction works best via the lung route.

(I still have not found how they are "primed" as of yet. Ebola reston - taken from phillipino pigs and humans - is non-pathogenic to humans and is respiratory? no other known strain is).

"We have designed a set of novel viruses that show great promise for gene therapy. The viruses consist of retrovirus proteins on the interior and the proteins of other viruses on the surface. These " pseudotyped" viruses have been made with surface glycoproteins from a family known as the alphaviruses and from the Ebola virus. The retroviruses with the alphavirus glycoproteins, constructed in a collaboration with the Kuhn laboratory, have properties that make them superior to any of the other retroviruses previously utilized and have been demonstrated to have strong capacities for gene transfer to the liver and the central nervous system. The retroviruses with the Ebola virus glycoprotein have unique capabilities to enter the lung through the airway and may have utility for gene therapy for cystic fibrosis. We have discovered a technique for greatly increasing the effectiveness of the retroviruses with the Ebola virus glycoprotein and have also acquired evidence indicating that the natural host of the Ebola virus may be a bird."

https://www.bio.purdue.edu/People/faculty_dm/directory.php?refID=28