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The genetic sequences of virus samples from current patients were compared to those from the 2014-2016 epidemic and were found to be so similar that they must be closely related, the researchers said. The report, posted online Friday, involved researchers from the Guinean Ministry of Health, other laboratories in that country, the Pasteur Institute in Senegal, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Nebraska and the company PraesensBio.
The results were reported earlier Friday by Science and Stat.
“There are very few genomic changes, and for these to occur the virus has to multiply,” said Dr Schaffner. “I think the virus is in hibernation for the most part.”
“Among other things, it shows you what whole genome molecular sequencing can provide,” he said. “Until that moment, we all believed that the current epidemic was a consequence of the transmission of nature, of bats. But it probably came from a human reservoir.
Michael Wiley, a virologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and CEO of PraesensBio, which provided the equipment used to study the samples, described the current outbreak as a “continuation” of the previous one.
He said persistent infections and sexual transmission had already been recognized during the West African outbreak and during an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Each new milestone for viral persistence has come as a shock, he said: first 180 days, then 500 days, and now more than five years after the initial infection.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement provided by its spokesperson, Thomas Skinner: “The CDC has reviewed the sequencing data from samples taken during the current outbreak in Guinea. While we cannot be 100% sure, the CDC agrees that the data supports the conclusion that cases from the current outbreak are likely linked to cases in the region during the Ebola outbreak in Africa. West from 2014-2016.
He added: “This suggests that the outbreak likely started from a persistent infection, from a survivor, and not from a new introduction of the virus from the animal reservoir. Although we have seen outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo linked to survivors, the time lag between the end of the 2014-2016 epidemic and the emergence of this outbreak is surprising and underscores the need for further research to better understand the complex epidemiology and ecology of Ebola. “
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