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JOHANNESBURG – Two ongoing Ebola outbreaks in Africa appear to have been triggered by survivors of past outbreaks, study finds that draws attention to how long the virus can hide in parts of the human body, only to reappear months or even years after the initial illness.
The results are based on testing of virus samples taken last month from outbreaks of the disease at the sites of the two largest Ebola outbreaks in history: Guinea and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. . These epidemics – including the one that killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa between 2013 and 2016 – accelerated the development of Ebola vaccines and therapies that have since offered hope of reversing the fight against Ebola. one of the deadliest viruses in the world.
Now, researchers are trying to figure out if these vital scientific advancements sowed the seeds for new transmissions of hemorrhagic fever.
Doctors have known for some time that Ebola can lie dormant in areas protected from the body’s immune response – like a man’s eyes, brain, and testicles – for months after a person has cleared it. initial infection. In 2016, scientists documented how a Guinean man who recovered from Ebola in November 2014 transmitted the virus to a sexual partner about 15 months later.
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