'1 in 5 chance' Ebola will spread to the US by the end of September
Writing in the journal PLOS Currents: Outbreaks, a team of experts claim it is likely that Ebola will make its way to the US, estimating there is a 20% chance this could occur by the end of this month. However, US health care is expected to halt transmission, limiting outbreaks to isolated cases.
map of africa and a model airplane
The researchers suggest Ebola could spread beyond Africa via the international travel hubs in Nigeria.
The World Health Organization (WHO) report that 1,841 people in West African nations have died from Ebola during the current outbreak, with a total of 3,685 confirmed or suspected cases. A recent report in the journal Science (not connected to the PLOS report) estimated that the epidemic will reach 10,000 cases by the end of September.
The virus is transmitted via contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, and it can take up to 21 days after infection for symptoms to appear. These symptoms include fever, muscle weakness and sore throat, and later vomiting, rash and bleeding.
There is no clinically available vaccine for Ebola. However, earlier this week, Medical News Today reported on the development of a vaccine capable of generating long-term immunity against Ebola in monkeys, which is now entering phase 1 clinical trials in humans.