Ebola Virus Mutates: WHO Fears Death Toll May Spiral Out Of Control

The Washington Post calls the current Ebola outbreak the "deadliest outbreak in history." With 1,552 recorded deaths, the current outbreak is projected to claim more lives than all of the previous Ebola outbreaks combined. On Friday, the World Health Organization issued a warning that as many as 20,000 people could be infected before the disease is contained. As health officials helplessly learn that the disease has crossed borders, experts fear the outbreak will only become deadlier.

According to the WHO, the Ebola virus is officially responsible for at leasts 1,552 deaths and 3,069 infections in West Africa. Approximately half the infected have died. Unfortunately, we are certain that the actual figure of the dead and infected, considering all undocumented cases, is significantly greater. The Ebola virus has crossed the borders of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigera. On Friday, Health Minister Awa Marie Coll Seck confirmed the first case of Ebola in Senegal. In addition, a separate outbreak, completely unrelated to the situation in West Africa, has reported in Congo.

According to reports on Thursday, new research has discovered that the Ebola virus has mutated repeatedly in recent months. Given the frequency of the mutation, the longer the crisis cannot be controlled, the more desperate it will become for doctors that are struggling to diagnose and treat the deadly disease.

Obviously, we know the Ebola virus infects indiscriminately. However, this only makes the disease even more dangerous. According to Sciencemag.org, five of 50 co-authors died of Ebola before they could see their findings about the sequencing of the virus’s genome published. All in all, more than two dozen nurses, doctors, and support staff of the Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) in Sierra Leone, were killed by the Ebola virus. KGH diagnosed the first case of Ebola in the country.

In order to combat against the spread of the outbreak, many countries are closing its borders. Senegal closed its borders from neighboring Guiinea. In fact, all flights to Guinea, Sierra Leone, or Liberia are forbidden within Senegal borders. The Associated Press reported that the closure of Senegal's border is significant as its capital city of Dakar is a major travel hub for the region.

In a bid to push an Ebola vaccine, U.S. researchers, in collaboration with British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, announced that human trials will begin next week at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., of an experimental vaccine. Health officials are desperate to bring the drug to West Africa as soon as possible.

“It’s even worse than I’d feared,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden told CNN. “Every day this outbreak goes on, it increases the risk for another export to another country.”