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Ébola
Poderá o vírus Ébola ser transmitido por via aérea?
Pelos vistos muitos especialistas acham (ou pelo menos suspeitam) que a resposta é sim!
EBOLA VIRUS
Fears raised over airborne Ebola transmission
(wired.co.uk)
Microbiologists from Canada have shown that the deadly Ebola virus could be transmitted between species without direct contact. The research has raised fears that AIRBORNE TRANSMISSION OF THE VIRUS COULD BE CONTRIBUTING TO ITS STREAD IN PARTS OF AFRICA. In a series of experiments, pigs carrying the Ebola virus were situated next to monkeys, but separated by a wire barrier. Eight days later, some monkeys began to show signs of Ebola, and had to be put down. It's thought that the monkeys may have caught the virus by inhaling tiny droplets suspended in the air from the pigs' respiratory tracts. "What we suspect is happening is large droplets -- they can stay in the air, but not long, they don't go far," explained Gary Kobinger from Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory, to the BBC.
EBOLA VIRUS
Public Health Agency of Canada
(www.publichealth.gc.ca)
MODE OF TRANSMISSION:
In an outbreak, it is hypothesized that the first patient becomes infected as a result of contact with an infected animal. Person-to-person transmission occurs via close personal contact with an infected individual or their body fluids during the late stages of infection or after death. Nosocomial infections can occur through contact with infected body fluids due to the reuse of unsterilized syringes, needles, or other medical equipment contaminated with these fluids. Humans may be infected by handling sick or dead non-human primates and are also at risk when handling the bodies of deceased humans in preparation for funerals, suggesting possible transmission through aerosol droplets. In the laboratory, infection through small-particle aerosols has been demonstrated in primates, and AIRBORNE SPREAD AMONG HUMANS IS STRONGLY SUSPECTED, although it has not yet been conclusively demonstrated. The importance of this route of transmission is not clear. Poor hygienic conditions can aid the spread of the virus.
INCUBATION PERIOD:
Two to 21 days more often 4 - 9 days.
(imagem: Shutterstock)