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While a person is known to be contagious only when showing symptoms of Ebola, the virus can remain in areas of the body that are immunologically privileged sites. These sites include the testes, the interior of eyes, the placenta, and the central nervous system.

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The virus may be present in the body in immunologically privileged areas even after you have recovered from the disease.  This can lead to new infections many years after the initial outbreak has occurred. https://www.science.org/content/article/new-ebola-outbreak-likely-sparked-person-infected-5-years-ago

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An Ebola outbreak in Guinea that has so far sickened at least 18 people and killed nine has stirred difficult memories of the devastating epidemic that struck the West African country between 2013 and 2016, along with neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone, leaving more than 11,000 people dead.

But it may not just be the trauma that has persisted. The virus causing the new outbreak barely differs from the strain seen 5 to 6 years ago, genomic analyses by three independent research groups have shown, suggesting the virus lay dormant in a survivor of the epidemic all that time. "This is pretty shocking," says virologist Angela Rasmussen of Georgetown University. "Ebolaviruses aren't herpesviruses"-which are known to cause long-lasting infections-"and generally RNA viruses don't just hang around not replicating at all."

Scientists knew the Ebola virus can persist for a long time in the human body; a resurgence in Guinea in 2016 originated from a survivor who shed the virus in his semen more than 500 days after his infection and infected a partner through sexual intercourse. "But to have a new outbreak start from latent infection 5 years after the end of an epidemic is scary and new," says Eric Delaporte, an infectious disease physician at the University of Montpellier who has studied Ebola survivors and is a member of one of the three teams. Outbreaks ignited by Ebola survivors are still very rare, Delaporte says, but the finding raises tricky questions about how to prevent them without further stigmatizing Ebola survivors.

The current outbreak in Guinea was detected after a 51-year-old nurse who had originally been diagnosed with typhoid and malaria died in late January. Several people who attended her funeral fell ill, including members of her family and a traditional healer who had treated her, and four of them died. Researchers suspected Ebola might have caused all of the deaths, and in early February they discovered the virus in the blood of the nurse's husband. An Ebola outbreak was officially declared on 13 February, with the nurse the likely index case.

The Guinea Center for Research and Training in Infectious Diseases (CERFIG) and the country's National Hemorrhagic Fever Laboratory have each read viral genomes from four patients; researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Senegal, sequenced two genomes. In three postings today on the website virological.org, the groups agree the outbreak was caused by the Makona strain of a species called Zaire ebolavirus, just like the past epidemic. A phylogenetic tree shows the new virus falls between virus samples from the 2013-16 epidemic.

Until recently, scientists assumed Ebola epidemics start when a virus jumps species, from an animal host to humans. Theoretically, that could have happened in Guinea, says virologist Stephan Günther of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, who worked with one of the three teams. But given the similarity between viruses from the epidemic and the new ones, "It must be incredibly unlikely."

Outside scientists agree but say it hasn't been proved that Ebola lay dormant in one person for 5 years. "From the tree, you'd conclude that it is a virus that persisted in some way in the area, and sure, most likely in a survivor," says Dan Bausch, a veteran of several Ebola outbreaks who leads the United Kingdom's Public Health Rapid Support Team. But it is hard to rule out scenarios such as a small, unrecognized chain of human to human transmission, Bausch adds: "For example, a 2014 survivor infects his wife a few years after recovery, who infects another male, who survives and carries virus for a few years, then infecting another women, who is then seen by a nurse who dies"-the index case in the new outbreak.

The nurse was not known to be a survivor herself, but she could have had contact with a survivor privately or through her job, or she might have been infected herself years ago with few symptoms. "Figuring out what exactly happened is one of the biggest questions now," Bausch says.

Another ongoing outbreak of Ebola in North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was also started by transmission from someone infected during a previous outbreak, Delaporte notes. (The survivor had tested negative for Ebola twice after his illness in 2020.) Taken together, that suggests humans are now as likely to be the source of a new outbreak of Ebola as wildlife, he says. "This is clearly a new paradigm for how these outbreaks start." Outbreaks sparked by survivors may even become more likely, now that increasing mobility and other factors have caused each eruption of Ebola to become bigger, resulting in more survivors, says Fabian Leendertz, a wildlife veterinarian who was involved in the sequencing.

Eric Delaporte, University of Montpellier

The cases raise important new research questions, Bausch says: "How do we need to change our response to escape from the cycle of outbreak-response-reintroduction-outbreak?" he asks. "Can we use new therapeutics to clear virus from survivors?"

But the most immediate question is what these results mean for Ebola survivors, who face a lot of hardship already. Many have not only lost friends and family to the virus, but also struggle with long-term aftereffects, such as muscle pains and eye problems. In a study published in February, Delaporte found that about half of more than 800 Ebola survivors in Guinea still reported symptoms 2 years after their illness, and one-quarter after 4 years.

On top of this, survivors have faced intense stigmatization. Many conspiracy theories swirled in the aftermath of the epidemic, including the claim that survivors had sold family members to international organizations to save themselves, says Frederic Le Marcis, a social anthropologist at the École Normale Supérieure of Lyon and the French Research Institute for Development, who is working in Guinea. One man, he says, was the only one to survive out of 11 family members and when he came back, no one wanted to work with him. "He was seen as someone untrustworthy." News that a survivor likely touched off the current outbreak could cause further problems for survivors, Le Marcis says: "Will they be highlighted as a source of danger? Will they be chased out of their own families and communities?"

Alpha Keita, a virologist who led the sequencing work at CERFIG, worries about stigmatization and even violence against survivors have occupied him since he first got the surprising results a week ago. One important message to the public should be that some people infected with Ebola show few symptoms, meaning people may be survivors without knowing it. "So don't stigmatize Ebola survivors-you don't know that you are not a survivor yourself," Keita says.

Bausch calls for an educational campaign explaining that unprotected sex with an Ebola survivor may pose a risk, but casual contacts such as shaking hands and working together do not. And although there needs to be some medical monitoring of survivors, it cannot just be about testing them for Ebola virus, he says. "We need to recognize and assist with all the other challenges, physical, mental, and social, that survivors and their families face." The key, Bausch says, is to "not just treat survivors as some hot potato risk of starting another outbreak." It also presents a challenge to the country's health care system if every patient with fever and diarrhea has to be a considered potential Ebola case, Le Marcis says.

Fortunately, Ebola vaccines and treatments have become available in recent years. Already, several thousand contacts of the new Ebola patients, and contacts of these contacts, have been vaccinated. Health care workers are being immunized as well. Vaccinating survivors might even help clear latent infections, Rasmussen says. And the fact that viral samples were sequenced in Guinea this time around shows the country's scientific capabilities have improved, Delaporte says: "Seven years ago, when the epidemic started, there was no infrastructure in Guinea to be able to do this."

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New Ebola outbreak likely sparked by a person infected 5 years ago

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An Ebola outbreak in Guinea that has so far sickened at least 18 people and killed nine has stirred difficult memories of the devastating epidemic that struck the West African country between 2013 and 2016, along with neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone, leaving more than 11,000 people dead.

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The Wond'ry is Vanderbilt's innovation center that has tools and supplies not found elsewhere on campus. These supplies can be used by any student to bring their idea to life.

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The wond'ry is Vanderbilt's makerspace open to all students. They have various hand tools, 3D printing equipment, a photo booth for projects, and lots of other prototyping and building supplies.

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the Ebola virus can remain latent in survivors for years after infection. The dormant virus typically is not detected in survivors as it tends to collect in tissue rather than circulating blood. The dormant virus can later reactivate and infect the survivor and others.

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The Wond'ry is Vanderbilt's space for innovation. It houses the Makerspace that has various tools and resources that students can use to design and make whatever they want.

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The Ebola virus can only be transmitted when a patient has symptoms. However, the virus itself stays in the body even after a patient has recovered and can be reactivated later on in life.

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The Wondry is not only an innovation center for Vanderbilt, but it supports other individuals and businesses across Nashville as well. There are courses offered here that focus various design aspects such as innovation, altruism and entrepreneurship.

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Ebola survivors can still be contagious, as the virus is able to remain within the immunologically privileged areas of the body. Similarly to herpes, the virus can flare up and cause symptoms in the patient and spread to others over the course of the patient's life.

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The Wond'ry is a resource for Vanderbilt students and staff to innovate and design. It also hosts local businesses and serves as a center for connecting individuals with resources they may need for entrepreneurship and development of their ideas.

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The Wond'ry is the innovation center of Vanderbilt and it offers a wide variety of resources, ranging from the makerspace to courses on entrepreneurship. They also put on a lot of programming/events related to the product design and development process.

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Although a person is only contagious if they exhibit symptoms of Ebola while they have the disease, the 2019 re-emergence of Ebola in the DRC is considered to be linked to infections and sexual transmission from survivors who no longer show symptoms. Specifically, the Ebola virus is shown to be persistent in male survivors who sexually transmit the disease, as the Ebola virus can still be detected in semen for up to 3 years.

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Vanderbilt's Wond'ry is the Center for Innovation and Design in the Engineering and Science Building. It supports students with design thinking and building, and also has periodic seminars and workshops open to students. The Wond'ry also supports businesses across Nashville and hosts guest speakers.

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The Wond'ry is Vanderbilt's "wonder" + "foundry." It's a center for innovation, creativity and "making." To this end, they offer workshops, seminars, classes and entrepreneurial resources. It also offers. maker-spaces that enable students to explore skills from mechanical and electrical engineering to sewing and fabrication.

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Yes, even after someone has survived an Ebola infection, the pathogen can exist in "privileged immunological sites." These include the CSF, eyes, testes and placenta. It is not fully known how the virus can be transmitted from these sites to others, but hypotheses include sexual transmission via semen.

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The Ebola virus remains present in immunologically privileged areas in the body such as the testes, interior of the eyes and central nervous system even after infection. However, it is known that the virus is most contagious while symptoms persist.

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Most ebola survivors are technically less contagious and safe some reinfection; the virus does, however, persist in the body after acute infection in sites that are shielded from the body's immune system - eyes, placenta, CNS, cerebrospinal fluid, etc...

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Ebola survivors can still be contagious because the virus can remain in areas of the body that are immunologically privileged sites, such as the testes, interior of the eyes, placenta, and central nervous system, after an acute infection.

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The Wond’ry offers state of the art makerspaces, virtual reality labs, workshops, training opportunities, and programs for students, faculty, staff, and community members to bring ideas to life.

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I've heard it's really awesome, cool, and is pretty well equipped to help design and fabricate a wide variety of stuff. I went there one time but forgot why or what I did there

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Ebola survivors have been shown to have a tendency to still have the virus present in their bodies in immunologically privileged areas, even after they no longer show symptoms and are deemed "recovered".

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The Wond'ry at Vanderbilt is a innovation/makerspace for individuals to come in and use the various resources and manufacturing tools in order to develop their skills, or work on a project, whether it be independent or for their education. They have various tools, including 3D printers, laser cutters, and areas for prototyping and brainstorming.

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Ebola survivors can still be contagious. This is because the virus can remain in areas of the body that are immunologically privileged such as the testes, the interior of the eyes, the placenta and the central nervous system.

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I have heard that the Wond'ry is a space for Vanderbilt faculty and students to innovate. It contains a variety of resources dedicated to design and that help to foster creativity.

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It is known that the Ebola virus can persist for long periods of time in areas of the body that are immunologically privileged, such as spinal fluid, testes, eyes, etc. While it is not common for Ebola survivors to continue spreading the virus, there is evidence that this has occurred before and contributed to epidemic outbreaks.

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The Wond'ry is an innovation center available to the Vanderbilt community with a wide variety of machining and development tools. With training, Vanderbilt students can be given access to the space to work on physical implementation of projects using a variety of manufacturing tools.

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The Wond'ry is a center for design and innovation open to Vanderbilt students and staff. The makerspace features tools such as laser cutting and 3D printing which is free for all students to use. The Wond'ry also offers various workshops pertaining to design, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

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Ebola may remain in immunologically privileged areas of the body (placenta, eyes, and testes) even after the patient has recovered from the virus. This suggests that former Ebola patients may be able to spread the virus to others even after recovery.

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Although an Ebola patient is recognized to only be actively contagious when they have symptoms, the virus remains in immunologically privileged areas of the body such as the interior of eyes, the placenta, the testes, and the CNS. Therefore, I do believe Ebola survivors can still be contagious.

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From the multiple times I have been to the Wond'ry, I have explored the plethora of resources, trainings, and events available to students. Therefore, I have heard and seen firsthand that Wond'ry is a space at Vanderbilt that is dedicated to encouraging creativity and innovation.

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They have an electronic and mechanical spaces. These spaces have various materials that are available for students to work on projects.

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The virus can remain dormant in certain areas of the body after a person recovers. But the virus is most contagious when the person exhibits symptoms, therefore they are not contagious until they do.

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Because the Ebola virus may remain in the body after survival and recovery, a Survivor is still capable of transmitting the virus. The virus may remain in immunologically privileged sites such as testes, placenta, central nervous system, and the inside of eyes.

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The Wond'ry is a highly innovative center that provides students a makerspace for various projects such as 3D printing. The Wond'ry also hold office and laboratories for VINSE and different nanoscale and nanotechnology projects.

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Ebola can remain in a person if they survived it for years after infection. This means that virus can still spread to others and reactivate in them.

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The Wondry is Vanderbilt’s maker space. All students are allowed to utilize the supplies, 3D printers and equipment for their various projects.

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Yes, Ebola survivors can still be contagious because the virus can remain latent in immunologically privileged sites (e.g. eyes, testes, cerebrospinal fluid, etc.), reactivate, and spread to others.

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I've heard that the Wond'ry is the hub of innovation on campus. It has plenty of tools and equipment like circuit components, 3D printers, etc. I plan on attending one of the training sessions so I can have full access to each of the different labs.

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Ebola survivors can still be contagious for a while after recovering from Ebola. They can be contagious through bodily fluids such as semen.

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The wondry is a great makers space on campus. They have many resources and equipment to help students create products. They also teach classes on how to use the different equipment

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Even after recovery, it is still possible, while not as common, for someone who had been infected to spread ebola. The virus may still remain in some tissue and body fluids such a semen that may pose a risk to those coming into contact with the recovered person.

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Yes, even if a patient is cured of the virus, the virus can remain in immunologically privileged areas of the body such as seminal fluid.

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Tons! Basically, it's where Vanderbilt people go if they have an idea they'd like to work out and build / create, where there's staff and team members that can help them do it.

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I was fortunate enough to interview David Owens my sophomore year and I learned a lot from him. There’s a lot of maker space resources, which they offer training on, that can be used by any student. They also offer a lot of programs to learn new skills and promote innovation.

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Ebola survivors can be contagious in specific situations. The virus can remain in parts of the body, kind of like herpes, and flare up and cause symptoms. They are only contagious when they have symptoms.

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The Wond'ry had lots of cool things like 3D printers and it is also really pretty. When you go upstairs there are lots of supplies for building whatever idea you have.

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Yes. The virus lays dormant in survivors. If it resurges in the future and 'awakens' it can once again spread to others.

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It is the foundry lab. It has a bunch of tools and equipment students can use in addition to some invention experts. Mainly known for its 3D printing and laser cutting.

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Despite some being a "survivor" of the Ebola virus, they are still able to infect other due to the virus's ability to remain in the hosts body fluid and tissue for a while after. The virus is also able to survive on surfaces with the ability to affect others hours after the infector leaving.

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I've heard the Wond'ry is the multi-floor makerspace available to all Vanderbilt students, which allows and encourages innovation. Given the immense resources (3-D printing, laser cutting, vinyl cutter machines, etc.) a student can virtually create anything they can imagine.

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That the wondry is a combination of the words wonder and foundry, and is essentially the place on campus where almost anything can be made. This Makerspace has the tools, machines, and overall resources that students have access to build things whether for class or personal use, within reason.

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Although a patient is only "contagious" while actively showing symptoms, the dormant virus can remain in certain areas of the body. These areas are those that are immunologically privileged such as the CSF and the testes and the virus may flare up from these areas after symptoms subside.