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Filoviruses:
Actually, the heading should read Hemorrhagic
viral fevers, but since the filovirus group (a group of viruses which
includes the deadly Ebola and Marburg viruses) are the most likely
candidates for being converted into biological weapons, I decided to make the
heading more specific. Filoviruses are so named because they are shaped like
tiny hairs.
Hemorrhagic viral fevers are characterized by bleeding from wherever bleeding
can occur. There are large patches of bleeding under the skin, bleeding from the
gums, the nose, the mouth, the anus, in the urine, and from every other conceivable opening.
There are also reports of bleeding occurring from the nipples of a man affected
with the Marburg virus. The bleeding is rapid, profuse and unstoppable. The
blood that flows out of the victim is unable to clot, forming a liquid pool
around his body. I do not exaggerate when I say "pool of blood". So
horrible is the disease and so infectious is the agent causing almost no one is
ready to look after the victim who has to be kept segregated in the most extreme
isolation.
Images:
Please click on the images to view larger versions. The larger versions will
open in a new window.
1) Scanning EM picture of the Marburg virus. Notice the elongated shape of the
virus.
2) Extensive bleeding under the skin (ecchymoses) in a person affected with
Ebola.
3) Disinfenction of a dead body by international workers in Zaire in 1995. In
the previous outbreak in 1976, the same hospital had to be shut down because
Ebola started spreading among the hospital staff and the other patients of the
hospital.
The victim generally dies in a few days ( around 1 week after the
appearance of symptoms) of hypovolemia, or from liver failure and death in such
a condition is possibly a relief.
The USSR was involved in making biological weapons with Marburg at their
VEKTOR facility in Siberia. The Russians are also suspected of having made a
"chimerical" organism by making a hybrid of Ebola and Smallpox (EbolaPox).
Image :
VEKTOR, Siberia.
Manufacturing Ease:
It is
enormously difficult to
grow these viruses in the laboratory. Sometimes, the only way to grow these
viruses is to inject them into animals in whose bodies they replicate and
increase in number. Doing even this is very difficult technically.
However, considering the fact that Marburg and Ebola figured significantly in
the USSR weapons program, if is conceivable that a secret method for cultivating
these organisms in large numbers exists.
Ease of delivery :
These viruses are extremely
fragile. They need to be preserved in liquid nitrogen containers for being
transported from one place to another e.g. from the source of an epidemic to the
diagnostic laboratory.
0 Marks here too.
Infectivity:
The infectivity varies
for different members of the group. As far as Ebola is concerned, it is highly
infective. (The infective dose may be as small
as 1-10 viruses)
During an outbreak of Ebola in Zaire (in 1976), a single case of Ebola admitted
to a 120bed hospital caused an outbreak of the disease among the patients and
nurses that was so bad that the hospital had to be eventually shut down.
However, the viruses do not spread very easily through the air or by skin-to-skin
contact. Hence, the potential of a disastrous outbreak is greatly reduced.
Mortality:
The mortality , too, is
different for the different viruses.
1 out of every 4 people infected with Marburg die. However, the mortality of the
Zaire strain of Ebola is a stupendous 90%!
Of course, Antibiotics are of no use against any of these diseases. Doctors just
have to sit back and hope for the best.
Interesting Facts:
1) Only 2 facilities in the US ( CDC, Atlanta and USAMRIID ( previously Fort
Detrick), Maryland) have the necessary safety facilities for handling such
viruses.
2) The last known case of Marburg was in April 1999 . Where does the Marburg virus
disappear in between outbreaks? There must be a place where the Marburg virus
remains latent and hidden in between the periods when it is causes clinical
disease in humans.
Strange as it may seem, scientists have been able to pinpoint the
location where it might be hidden. It is in a relatively small cave heavily
infested with bats called The Kitum Cave on the slope of Mount Elgon, Kenya.
3) Before 1999, the last known outbreak of Ebola had occurred April 1995 in Zaire. Around
240 people died.
The spread of the disease was halted because of the large degree of clinical
suspicion regarding Ebola. CDC diagnosed the disease within hours of receiving the samples and a large international team with containment units poured into
Zaire to restrict the spread of the disease.