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Title: Ebola can survive on surfaces for almost TWO MONTHS: Tests reveal certain strains survive for weeks when stored at low temperatures
Source:
Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet ... s-stored-low-temperatures.html
Published: Oct 27, 2014
Author: Mark Prigg and Victoria Woollaston
Post Date: 2014-10-27 21:22:32 by _V_
Keywords: None
Views: 688
The number of confirmed Ebola cases passed the 10,000 mark over the weekend, despite efforts to curb its spread. And while the disease typically dies on surfaces within hours, research has discovered it can survive for more than seven weeks under certain conditions. During tests, the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) found that the Zaire strain will live on samples stored on glass at low temperatures for as long as 50 days. The left-hand charts plot survival rates of Zaire strain of Ebola (Zebov) and Lake Victoria marburgvirus (Marv) on glass (a) and plastic (b) at 4° (39°F) over 14 days. The right-hand charts reveal the survival rate under the same conditions over 50 days. Both viruses survived for 26 days, and Ebola was extracted after 50 days The tests were initially carried out by researchers from DSTL before the current outbreak, in 2010, but the strain investigated is one of five that is still infecting people globally. The findings are also quoted in advice from the Public Agency of Health in Canada. Ebola was discovered in 1976 and is a member of the Filoviridae family.
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