EBOLA; a possible cure?

Ebola is a deadly virus that kills 90 percent of human cases, worst of all it is 100 percent fatal to apes. This deadly virus is mostly found in Africa and it is transmitted by body fluids such as saliva, sweat etc. People who have Ebola have nausea, vomiting, internal bleeding and in many cases their organs shut down causing their death. However, scientists have discovered a new drug that cured this deadly virus in 60 percent of rhesus monkeys and 100 percent effective in treating a similar virus in cynomolgus monkeys. Not only that but U.S scientist were also given permission to do human trials.

This relates to biology in so many different ways. First of all, Ebola is a virus that attacks all the organs in your body to the point where there is no turning back. Second, viruses replicate producing many copies of themselves and because of that they spread quickly. Third, the monkey population must be decreasing due to this high mortality rate and that would be another example of an endangered ecosystem. The U.S army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease and a private company called AVI BioPharma are working very hard to find a cure to this deadly epidemic.

This is very important to us all because it is feared that Ebola can be used as a bio weapon by terrorists. If this is so this could be detrimental to the human race. The fact that U.S scientists were recently given permission to do human trials is a big deal. This could save so many lives,and eventually even the human race and help the poor monkeys as well.

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11054523