Is It Known Where The Ebola Virus

[Stargazer]

came from and when and how it has suddenly hit the human race?

[sunny-dave]

There is a pool of infection in bushmeat. A child contracted the virus from eating a bat. The subsequent transmission is human-to-human.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29604204

[Milvus]

The origin has been traced to a two-year-old child from the village of Gueckedou in south-eastern Guinea, an area where batmeat is frequently hunted and eaten.The bushmeat in question is thought to be bat. Good article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29604204

[Peter Pedant]

I f you plot the new cases on a graph against time
the log plot is a sloped line

This means you can project it backwards down to 1 ( log 1 is zero )
this is a few months ago.

The fruit bat harbors ebola virus without harm. Monkeys and above - apes and humans get priddy sick.

It is reasonable to conclude that a child ate an infected bat and became the first human case.

The pundits have been very slow to notice and ask why this epidemic is so large. Is it for example due to a mutation in the virus ? WHy is the case fatality ration ( 70%) so large ? why is this epidemic ten times larger than any previously recorded ? [ WIll the whole of Liberia die ? ]

so there are still relevant questions to be answered

[Brinjal]

It has been around for years in smaller outbreaks. This time it is out of control. I can't understand why they haven't quarantined certain areas. When I was in Tanzania over 30 years ago there was a severe cholera outbreak and control measures were in place to prevent people from moving around the countryside. We were stuck in one area for six weeks till quarantine was lifted and cholera is nothing compared to Ebola.
There is always responsiblity put on the west for a solution but no responsibility is taken by the relevant authorities in these countries.

[Peter Pedant]

Brinj - Liberia is like your current country of residence - nothing works

Like Haiti and the storm and then cholera - the ministries 'involved' may just not think it is their job to you know get on with the job and fix things.

so what are they there for ? very very good question

[jim360]

One of the main reasons this particular outbreak is so large is that it's hit cities. All previous outbreaks have, apparently, been in rural areas that were relatively easy to contain.