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After outbreaks of Ebola Zaire, studies showed that infectious Ebola virus can hide out in areas where foreign invaders don’t seem to trigger immune responses. These so-called immune-privileged sites include the brain, the eyes, and the testes.
A genetic analysis of an Ebola outbreak of a 2021 outbreak in Guinea determined that the likely cause was a person who had been infected during the West African outbreak between 2014 and 2016, five years earlier. That suggests that Ebola Zaire infection may smolder for years in some survivors. It’s not clear whether Ebola Sudan may do the same.
Another challenge was the lesser-known type of Ebola virus causing the outbreak: the Sudan strain. Although there are therapeutics and a vaccine against another type of Ebola virus, Ebola Zaire, there are no such treatments or protections against Ebola Sudan.
WHO had rushed to start a Phase 3 vaccine trial in Uganda, but because there are no new cases, officials are talking about how to continue to study the vaccines “in a way that we conduct research that advances our understanding of these vaccines,” said Dr. Ana Maria Henao-Restrepo.
Survivors are also being monitored for the persistence of the virus in their bodies.
After outbreaks of Ebola Zaire, studies showed that infectious Ebola virus can hide out in areas where foreign invaders don’t seem to trigger immune responses. These so-called immune-privileged sites include the brain, the eyes, and the testes.
A genetic analysis of an Ebola outbreak of a 2021 outbreak in Guinea determined that the likely cause was a person who had been infected during the West African outbreak between 2014 and 2016, five years earlier. That suggests that Ebola Zaire infection may smolder for years in some survivors. It’s not clear whether Ebola Sudan may do the same.
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