The genetic sequences of virus samples from current patients were compared to those in the 2014-16 outbreak and were considered so similar that they should be closely related, the researchers said. The report, posted online on Friday, involved researchers from Guinea’s Ministry of Health, other labs in that country, the Pasteur Institute of Senegal, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the company PraesensBio.
The findings were reported on Friday by Science and Stat.
“There are very few genomic changes, and for the virus to occur, it needs to multiply,” said Schaffner. “I think most of the virus is in hibernation.”
“Among other things, it shows the brilliant insights that sequencing the entire molecular genome can provide,” he said. “Until now, we all thought that the current outbreak was the result of a transmission from nature, from bats. But it probably came from a human reservoir. “
Michael Wiley, a virologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and chief executive officer of PraesensBio, who provided materials used to study the samples, described the current outbreak as a “continuation” of the previous one.
He said that persistent infections and sexual transmission were already recognized during the outbreak in West Africa and during one in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Each new milestone for viral persistence is a shock, he said: first 180 days, then 500 days and now more than five years after the initial infection.
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement provided by its spokesman, Thomas Skinner: “The CDC has revised the sequencing data for samples collected during the current outbreak in Guinea. While we cannot be 100 percent sure, the CDC agrees that the data supports the conclusion that cases in the current outbreak are likely to be linked to cases in the area during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. “
He added: “This suggests that the outbreak probably started from a persistent infection, a survivor, and not a new introduction of the virus from the animal reservoir. Although we have seen outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo linked to survivors, the period between the end of the 2014-2016 outbreak and the outbreak of this outbreak is surprising and highlights the need for more research to better understand the complex epidemiology and ecology of Ebola. “