WHO confirms Ebola Virus outbreak in DRC different from West Africa - Ebola Virus Brothers from the same Zaire Strain Mother

“Results from the Virus characterization, together with findings from the epidemiological investigation, are definitive: the outbreak in DRC is a distinct and independent event, with no relationship to the outbreak in West Africa”

WHO (World Health Organization) commenting on Tuesday September 2^nd 2014 on the findings of Centre International de Recherches Médicales, confirming that the Ebola Virus Strains from West Africa and DRC are different

I’ve now begun an Ebola Watch after the WHO (World Health Organization) declared that the Epidemic would claim some 20,000 lives before the Ebola virus is brought under control as stated in the articles “Ebola outbreak: WHO warns that virus could infect 20,000”, published 28 August 2014 14:51 GMT, BBC News and “Ebola Could Strike 20,000, World Health Agency Says”, published AUG. 28, 2014 By NICK CUMMING-BRUCE and ALAN COWELL, NY Times.

That predicting made me think, initially, that the Ebola outbreak in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) was confirmation of its continued spread that’s now at Epidemic Proportions in Africa. However, the WHO has now reported that the DRC Strain genetically different form that affecting West African countries as stated in the article “New Ebola Cases Unrelated To West African Outbreak”, published  9/02/2014 @ 9:59AM by David Kroll, Forbes.

This was confirmed by the Centre International de Recherches Médicales, a WHO collaborating research center in Franceville, Gabon, who announced that, quote: “the Virus in the Boende district is definitely not derived from the Virus Strain currently circulating in West Africa.” This Laboratory had previously identified six (6) samples from West Africa as those of persons infected with the Ebola Virus. They would logically be in a position to make that distinction between the West Africa Strain and the DRC Strain.

Those affected with one particular Strain of Ebola Virus are as follows:

1.      Guinea

2.      Liberia

3.      Sierra Leone

4.      Nigeria

The Ebola Virus has claimed some 1,552 plus lives in West Africa since August 2014 as per my blog article entitled “Jamaica's Ebola Risk - How a ZMapp cured Americans of Ebola as Jamaica can become Guinea Pig to Test an Ebola Cure”. 

Ebola Virus outbreak in DRC – Ebola Virus Brothers from the same Zaire Strain Mother

The DRC Outbreak, which the WHO states is occurring in the Boende District, a remote region of the DRC some 750 miles from the capital of Kinshasa in, has this claimed fewer than 100 lives thus far. To be precise, up until Tuesday 2^nd September 2014, the figures reported were as thus:

1.      53 Ebola Virus Cases

2.      31 Ebola Virus Deaths

3.      7 Healthcare workers among the Ebola Virus Deaths

Good to note at this point that both the Ebola Viruses outbreaks in West Africa and DRC are of the Zaire Strain of Ebola Virus, so called because the Ebola Virus first originated in Zaire, now called DRC. However, in terms of their Genome they are slightly different, suggesting that the one in the DRC Outbreak, though the same species of Ebola Virus, is a genetically different Ebola Viruses from the West African Ebola Virus.

In short they are different Ebola Virus Brothers from the same Zaire Strain Mother!

In fact, this recent Ebola Virus outbreak is genetically similar to the 1995 outbreak in the city of Kikwit in the DRC. Thus it's easy to see why many believe the Ebola Virus is spreading when in fact it's more a case of the Virus re-emerging. The current Ebola Virus outbreak, 7^th on record in the DRC, has a history that spans back to 1976 when it first appeared and ravaged that country along with South Sudan.

Ebola Spread in DRC – Situation made worse by Traditional Hunting and Burial problems

Ground zero for this latest infection was a pregnant woman from Ikanamongo Village who died on August 11 after preparing bushmeat that her husband had hunted as reported by the WHO in the article “Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of Congo”, published 27 August 2014 by Disease outbreak news, WHO.

Lends more credence to the DRC Strain of the Ebola Virus being a mere re-emergence from the Bush as opposed to a spread, especially as the countries in-between DRC those West African countries have reported no cases of imported Ebola Virus infections.

This suggests that the Ebola Virus was lurking in the bushes of the DRC Jungle and has infected the primates and Bats, a primary traditional food hunted by many Congolese. Thus, expect more infections in the coming months due to traditional hunting of these animals for food, making the WHO prediction of 20,000 infected by December 2014 look like a prophetic statistical prediction.

The situation is made worse by the traditional burial practices of the people of DRC as noted by the WHO, quote: “Local customs and rituals associated with death meant that several health-care workers were exposed and presented with similar symptoms in the following week.” These customs involve the family washing and embalming the body for live burial, resulting them coming in contact with the following body fluids:

1.      Blood

2.      Saliva

3.      Semen

4.      Stool

5.      Sweat

6.      Urine

Thus the Ebola Virus spreads rapidly and within seven (7) days the symptoms become self-evident:

1.      Diarrhoea

2.      Headache

3.      Intense weakness

4.      Muscle pain

5.      Rash

6.      Sore throat

7.      Sudden onset of fever

8.      Vomiting

Good to note here that hemorrhaging associated with the Ebola Virus is as a result of the Body T-Cells deciding to launch an all out attack against the Ebola Virus in what’s called a Cytokine Storm. This after the Body's defense system, which the Ebola virus attacks last, is crippled.

Thus, with no means to produce an antibody response to the Ebola Virus Antigen, the your Body’s immune system launches an all out attack using all its known antibodies in what’s known as a Cytokine Storm.

This results in the Blood of the victim becoming flooded with anti-coagulant, making the patient literally drown to death in their own Blood as it drains through their Blood vessels and into their organs, including the skin. Given its incubation period of 2 weeks, it can easily travel around world and become a Global Pandemic if Countries aren’t vigilant.

Here’s hoping that the Ebola Virus doesn’t spread to Jamaica as Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar suspects is possible and is deserving of a meeting to discuss the Travel situation in the Caribbean as stated in my blog article entitled “Trinidad PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar's CARICOM Meeting - Preventing Caribbean Chikungunya Virus and Ebola Virus Epidemic by Christmas 2014”.

Very necessary precaution, given the rampant spread of Chikungunya Virus thus far!