New Type of Ebola Virus Discovered

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New Type of Ebola Virus Discovered

FRIDAY, Nov. 21 (HealthDay News) -- A new species of the deadly Ebola

virus has been identified by American and Ugandan scientists.

The new virus, called Bundibugyo ebolavirus, caused an outbreak in

western Uganda in 2007. It is genetically distinct from all other

known Ebola virus species, differing by more than 30 percent at the

genetic level, said the scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, Columbia University, the Uganda Virus Research

Institute, and the Uganda Ministry of Health.

To determine the genetic signature of the new virus, the scientists

had to employ a recently developed " random-primed pyro-sequencing "

method. Using this, they were able to quickly determine more than 70

percent of the virus genome, which then enabled rapid development of a

molecular detection assay that was used during the outbreak.

The draft genetic sequence also led to completion of the entire virus

genome sequence using a traditional method and immediate confirmation

that this was a new species of Ebola virus. Current efforts to develop

effective Ebola diagnostics, antivirals and vaccines will need to

factor in the distinct genetic makeup of this new species, the

scientists said in an article published Nov. 21 in the journal PLoS

Pathogens.

Currently, there is no treatment or vaccine for Ebola infection in

humans, which has a death rate of between 53 percent and 90 percent.

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