WHO concerned at new Ebola strain:
The World Health Organization expressed concern on Friday about the emergence of a new strain of the Ebola virus that has infected 51 people and killed 16 in western Uganda.The outbreak, announced by U.S. and Ugandan health officials on Thursday, is in Bundibugyo, near the border with Democratic Republic of Congo.
Genetic analysis of samples taken from some of the victims shows it is a previously unknown type of Ebola, making it the fifth strain, they said.
[...]
Ugandan health officials have said the new strain appears to be relatively mild, but Dr Tom Ksiazek of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was not yet clear whether this was the case. He said experts need to check to see how many diagnosed patients are still alive.Patients with the new strain showed some clinical symptoms, including vomiting, that differed from the usual ones, Hartl said.
“We are very concerned about this because it does not present (clinically) in exactly the same way as other Ebola strains,” he said.
A less virulent Ebola might sound less dangerous, but it should spread further than one that kills its hosts too quickly.