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Scientists question the designation of some emerging diseases
Date:11/13/2012

The Ebola, Marburg and Lassa viruses are commonly referred to as emerging diseases, but leading scientists say these life-threatening viruses have been around for centuries.

In a perspective in the Nov. 9 issue of the journal Science, researchers including a professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) say it would be more appropriate to refer to these viruses as emerging diagnoses.

"The infectious agents were identified around the middle of the 20th century but that does not mean that they were new," said Joseph McCormick, M.D., one of the authors of the perspective and regional dean of The University of Texas School of Public Health Brownsville Regional Campus, which is part of UTHealth. "Some of the viruses, including Lassa and Ebola, have been around for thousands of years."

The viruses burst onto the scene in the 1960s when outbreaks decimated areas of west and central Africa. The viruses can lead to hemorrhagic fever, a condition characterized by bleeding, shock, vomiting and diarrhea. In severe cases, the death rate may reach 90 percent.

These viruses thrive in animals - not humans. But people can get the viruses if they come in contact with infected animals or are exposed to virus-infected fluids or tissues. Infected people are moderately contagious with person-to-person transmission only through direct contact with infectious fluids such as blood or urine. Patients with Lassa virus can be successfully treated by antiviral medications.

With the aid of epidemiologic, ecologic and genetic studies, researchers have learned that these viral hemorrhagic fevers are endemic in several areas of Africa. And, the Ebola viruses are endemic in other parts of the globe.

"The Arenavirus family of viruses that occur on many continents, of which the African Lassa virus is a member, is an ancient family of viruses that have likely evolved along with their rodent hosts o
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Contact: Robert Cahill
Robert.Cahill@uth.tmc.edu
713-500-3030
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Source:Eurekalert  

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