THE EBOLA VIRUS:Comparison between the HIV AIDS virus and the Ebola virus

THE HIV VIRUS

AIDS is arguably the worst environmental disaster of the 20th century

While discussing the Ebola virus, comparisons must be inevitably made to AIDS, caused by the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency) particles. The HIV virus is also believed to have its origins from within the Rainforest.

Mode of Action

The main difference between HIV and Ebola is the mode of action. AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. HIV is transmitted like Ebola, but is much less contagious than Ebola. AIDS moves silently and one of the reasons why it has been so successful in penetrating the human species is its long incubation period. It is not easy to identify a carrier of HIV and he or she may freely transmit the virus over a long period of time, unknowingly.

The virus attaches itself to T-Lymphocytes, or the cells that are responsible for the human immune system and which fight disease and infections. The virus when it begins to replicate, disables and destroys the T-Lymphocytes, thus making even common infections like colds lethal, in the absence of an immune system.

· Thus the HIV does not kill directly – it disables the immune system, allowing for the invasion of other diseases.

· On the other hand Ebola, as described earlier, physically destroys every cell it comes into contact with. The incubation period is extremely short, thus limiting the number of additional people that can be infected.

Given that the virus is extremely contagious, this is one factor that has been crucial for limiting the spread of the virus.

Mutation ability

· The HIV virus mutates rapidly and a patient who finally dies from AIDS may have multiple strains of the same virus. Ebola does not mutate so rapidly.

· In fact, the strains of virus isolated in the 1976 Bumba outbreaks and the 1995 Kikwit outbreaks, though separated by 19 years and 1,800 kilometres are very similar in structure.

Transmission

· The HIV virus can be stopped from transmission through preventive measures, with an almost 100 % efficiency. That means that the virus can finally isolated and prevented from spreading, theoretically.

· The Ebola virus knows no such limits. The virus is a biosafety level 4 agent – It is to be handled under extremely tight security, with all possible safety measures. Access to a level 4 laboratory is by means of electronic identification cards and sensors.

Biosafety level 4

Scientists who work with Ebola must undergo decon (decontamination showers) before and after they enter the Level 4 laboratory. They must work with space suits, which are internally pressurised to provide a positive air pressure within the suit. They must wear two pairs of airtight gloves. As a final precaution, the lab is always maintained at a negative pressure, relative to the outside, so as to prevent leaks to the outside atmosphere. The air drawn from the level 4 lab is passed through disinfecting agents and is scrubbed before being released back to open air.

If there is any evidence of a suit leak and possible contamination with Ebola virus particles, the involved person is kept in an airtight chamber (called the submarine) for a quarantine period of two weeks.

Possible killers

HIV or Ebola, both are killers – their human hosts are ideal for their replication, with little or no immunity against these microscopic killers. If Ebola were to be as successful as AIDS in penetrating the human species, there seems little hope for man.

With an 80 % population wipe out, development as we know it, would be put back by hundreds of years.