‘Super-Spreaders’ Caused An Ebola World’s Largest Outbreak!

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), a fatal illness presents to human has been the source of the world's largest outbreak. Research suggests that majority of the cases were caused by a tiny handful of patients regarded as "super-spreaders".

According to the analysis, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that 61% of cases were caused by 3 percent of the afflicted people. More likely, the young and old were the "super-spreaders".

As of the observation, these "super-spreaders" could affect the next ebola outbreak. Like what happened in West Africa last 2014-15, wherein more than 28,000 people were infected with Ebola and over 11,300 people died.

With the most cases happened in and around the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown, researchers found that analyzing the pattern of where and when cases started, showed there could be a possibility to reveal how many people would be affected by this Ebola virus. Prof Steven Riley, a researcher at Imperial College London said in BBC News, "Most cases had a relatively short infectious period and generated low numbers of secondary infections, whereas a small number had longer infectious periods and generated more infections."

Children who are under 15 years old and adults over 45 years old were the ones who have been regarded as the "super-spreaders." According to Prof. Riley, this kind of event may have a correlation with the human behavior.

As Prof. Riley takes into consideration that whether it is to do with the people taking care of the young or old. These "super-spreaders" have been suspected to be the source of majority cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers).

Research studies made the effort in contact-tracing during the Ebola outbreak, which could help in designing the best way to prevent virus spread. This was made possible because of the participation of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Princeton University, Oregon State University, Imperial College London, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the US National Institutes of Health.

Watch this video on how our body fights for survival against Ebola Virus. Be aware!