Ebola 'could mutate into airborne virus' ministers are warned

Lord Robert Winston said Ebola could mutate into an airborne virus that is caught like a common cold during a House of Lords debate today.

The TV scientist was reacting after Health Minister Earl Howe insisted the risk to British people “remains low” at the House of Commons.

Labour's Lord Winston argued: “I am slightly concerned about the possible risk of seeming a little complacent about saying that this is low-risk.

“We know that viruses mutate, for example, and we know that the Ebola virus can mutate.

“We know perfectly well that it is not airborne at the moment, and we know that the pharyngeal and upper respiratory tract cells are unlikely to harbour the virus.

Ebola has claimed the lives of more than 4,000 people [ AP]

The Professor added: “However, can you assure us that people are looking at the risk of mutation of this virus so that we can make certain that its mode of transmission does not change?”

Mr Howe said the killer virus can only be transmitted by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person. He also confirmed there would be a “very close monitoring” of the way the virus mutates were carried out.

The Ebola outbreak has claimed more than 4,447 lives, mostly in West Africa. The World Heath Organisation (WHO) reports 8,914 probable or suspected cases.

That would seem to imply that half the people stricken with Ebola will survive the disease.

This comes after the chief of the UN’s Ebola mission, Anthony Banbury wanted there was a “nightmare” chance that the Ebola virus could become airborne if the epidemic is not brought under control fast enough.

Meanwhile WHO said the killer virus is killing 70 percent of those infected, and there could be as many as 10,000 new cases a week in West Africa by December.

Credit to Express