London - The deadly ebola virus could become airborne, creating a 'nightmare scenario', says the head of the UN mission tackling the disease.
Anthony Banbury, who is leading the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, said aid workers are in a race against time to bring the virus under control before it mutates.
Currently, ebola can only be caught through close contact with infected bodily fluids. An airborne virus would be much more contagious.
Mr Banbury said: 'The longer it moves around in human hosts in the virulent melting pot that is West Africa, the more chances increase that it could mutate.
'It is a nightmare scenario [that it could become airborne], and unlikely, but it can't be ruled out.'
There have been more than 7 000 cases, with almost 3 500 deaths.
The Centres for Disease Control, the public health institute in the US, predicts that the number of cases could reach 1.4million by January in Sierra Leone and Liberia alone. - Daily Mail
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Posted by Unknown on Friday, October 3, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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