Ebola risk factors
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Michael Maddaleni, B.S.
Risk Factors
Bioterrorism
A major risk associated with ebola is the ability to have it weaponized. Ebola does not have a vaccine associated with it, therefore it would be a good candidate for a major biological attack.
Because Ebola is lethal and since no approved vaccine or treatment is available, Ebola is classified as a Biosafety Level 4 agent, as well as a Category A bioterrorism agent[1] and a select agent by the CDC.
Ebola shows potential as a biological weapon because of its lethality but due to its relatively short incubation period it may be more difficult to spread since it may kill its victim before it has a chance to be transmitted, meaning that it would be hard to spread amongst small populations. However, if an outbreak occurred in a city the effects would likely be devastating.
As a terrorist weapon, Ebola has been considered by members of Japan's Aum Shinrikyo cult, whose leader, Shoko Asahara led about 40 members to Zaire in 1992 under the guise of offering medical aid to Ebola victims in what was presumably an attempt to acquire a sample of the virus.[2]
References
- ↑ Hoenen, Thomas (2006). "Ebola virus: unravelling pathogenesis to combat a deadly disease". Trends in Molecular Medicine. 12 (5): 206–215. doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2006.03.006. Unknown parameter
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