@ibm3090.bham.ac.uk (Graham Dodsworth) wrote:
>> Having seen the recent film 'Outbreak' about killer viruses and being
> a student of virology I am wondering what the scale of the problem is in
> reality and how much potential for destructiveness these viruses could
> have. Any opinions ?
>> Graham Dodsworth (2nd yr Biology undergraduate)
> (cen92024 at ibm3090.bham.ac.uk)
The best answer to this is that Ebola and related viruses are not at
present a major threat, because they kill so quickly. But, Mutations
happen...
A good place to find the answers to your questions is here:
http://www.bocklabs.wisc.edu/outbreak.html
This is a listing of news reports from the recent outbreak of ebola in
Zaire.
My opinion, and that of many others is that as the rainforest is destroyed,
many viruses that have been causing only sporadic disease in humans will
cause more frequent and more widespread epidemics as humans come into
frequent contact with more people and more animals in poorer states of
health.
But others may have a different opinion of course?
John Lester, PhD student in Microbiology at UCD
