I work as a senior healthcare advisor to BDO, as a venture partner at the venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates and as a partner to T.R. I am also a member of the policy board to the Society of Hospital Medicine and a member of the advisory board to the National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship. I spend my time now, among other things, analyzing developments in policy and regulation and their impacts on innovation, medical care, and the public health. Ebola’s RNA genome would have to mutate to the point where the coating that surrounds the virus particles (the protein capsid) is no longer susceptible to harsh drying effects of being suspended in air.To be spread through the air, it also generally helps if the virus is concentrated in the lungs of affected patients. I serve on the editorial boards of the journal Value Based Cancer Care and the Food and Drug Law Institute’s Policy Forum, and I am a Clinical Assistant Professor at the NYU School of Medicine. While the virus is unlikely to be modified in a way that changes its mode of infection, the resulting mutations could nonetheless make it harder to diagnose, or even treat.Moreover, our ability to prevent an epidemic here in the U.S. doesn’t relinquish our obligations abroad. We need a vigorous plan for helping that region deal with this evolving catastrophe.Scott Gottlieb, MD: I’m a physician and a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. My articles can also be found on the AEI website at http://www.aei.org/scholar/scott-gottliebOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The Ebola virus becoming airborne is a possible but unlikely outcome in the current epidemic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden said Tuesday. Of course, we only know about a small portion of the existing viruses.The ability of Ebola to spread without direct contact with an infected individual, and whether or not it is efficiently spread through air, are different issues.It’s already possible that Ebola can spread, in rare cases, through direct contact with respiratory secretions. Reston virus (RESTV) is one of six known viruses within the genus Ebolavirus.Reston virus causes Ebola virus disease in non-human primates; unlike the other five ebolaviruses, it is not known to cause disease in humans, but has caused asymptomatic infections. But such a scientific feat would rate as highly unlikely. I am also an external member of the Product Investment Board of GlaxoSmithKline, the company’s senior research and development board, and a member of the board of directors of Daiichi Sankyo Inc. Winston, a boutique merchant bank in Los Angeles that specializes in healthcare. As I For all of these reasons, and most of all for the humanitarian imperative; we need to be very concerned about the epidemic unfolding in Western Africa, even if the U.S. isn’t at direct risk of an outbreak now. The Ebola virus is comprised of ribonucleic acid (RNA). That is why patients stricken with Ebola develop very high amounts of the virus in the blood and in the feces, and not in their respiratory secretions.Could Ebola mutate in a way that confers these qualities on the virus?Anything is possible. This sort of transmission is sometimes also referred to as “droplet contact” or “viral droplet nuclei transmission.”For this article, I am focused on the latter circumstance -- whether or not Ebola could mutate in a way that makes it highly contagious through the air, by allowing the individual viral particles to survive for long periods suspended in dry air.Right now, Ebola is spread through direct contact with the body fluids of actively infected individuals. Reston virus was first described in 1990 as a new "strain" of Ebola virus (EBOV). Ebola generally isn’t an infection of the lungs. Such a structure makes it prone to undergoing rapid genetic changes. You can follow me on Twitter @ScottGottliebMD. I work with firms engaged in the financing of early stage healthcare ventures, giving me a firm grounding in how policies conceived in Washington are impacting private entrepreneurship on Main Street and the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, and policy. Researchers around the world are tracking the mutations in the coronavirus as it reproduces and spreads to ensure changes in the virus do not affect the development of the vaccine. Of the 23 known viruses that cause serious disease in man, none are known to have mutated in ways that changed how they infect humans. We know the virus is mutating. Such a structure makes it prone to undergoing rapid genetic changes. Could it adapt in a way that makes it airborne?It’s highly unlikely. Nonetheless, the fact that the Ebola virus is undergoing rapid changes reinforces the urgency of getting this epidemic under control. Airborne transmission allows organisms to enter the upper and lower respiratory tracts. The Ebola virus becoming airborne is a possible but unlikely outcome in the current epidemic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 faxThe contents of this site are ©2020 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc. I previously worked at the Food and Drug Administration as…Scott Gottlieb, MD: I’m a physician and a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. The Centers for Disease Control When a viral infection becomes “airborne,” like ordinary influenza, it means that discharged microbes remain suspended in the air for long periods of time.
I work as a senior healthcare advisor to BDO, as a venture partner at the venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates and as a partner to T.R. I am also a member of the policy board to the Society of Hospital Medicine and a member of the advisory board to the National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship. I spend my time now, among other things, analyzing developments in policy and regulation and their impacts on innovation, medical care, and the public health. Ebola’s RNA genome would have to mutate to the point where the coating that surrounds the virus particles (the protein capsid) is no longer susceptible to harsh drying effects of being suspended in air.To be spread through the air, it also generally helps if the virus is concentrated in the lungs of affected patients. I serve on the editorial boards of the journal Value Based Cancer Care and the Food and Drug Law Institute’s Policy Forum, and I am a Clinical Assistant Professor at the NYU School of Medicine. While the virus is unlikely to be modified in a way that changes its mode of infection, the resulting mutations could nonetheless make it harder to diagnose, or even treat.Moreover, our ability to prevent an epidemic here in the U.S. doesn’t relinquish our obligations abroad. We need a vigorous plan for helping that region deal with this evolving catastrophe.Scott Gottlieb, MD: I’m a physician and a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. My articles can also be found on the AEI website at http://www.aei.org/scholar/scott-gottliebOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The Ebola virus becoming airborne is a possible but unlikely outcome in the current epidemic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden said Tuesday. Of course, we only know about a small portion of the existing viruses.The ability of Ebola to spread without direct contact with an infected individual, and whether or not it is efficiently spread through air, are different issues.It’s already possible that Ebola can spread, in rare cases, through direct contact with respiratory secretions. Reston virus (RESTV) is one of six known viruses within the genus Ebolavirus.Reston virus causes Ebola virus disease in non-human primates; unlike the other five ebolaviruses, it is not known to cause disease in humans, but has caused asymptomatic infections. But such a scientific feat would rate as highly unlikely. I am also an external member of the Product Investment Board of GlaxoSmithKline, the company’s senior research and development board, and a member of the board of directors of Daiichi Sankyo Inc. Winston, a boutique merchant bank in Los Angeles that specializes in healthcare. As I For all of these reasons, and most of all for the humanitarian imperative; we need to be very concerned about the epidemic unfolding in Western Africa, even if the U.S. isn’t at direct risk of an outbreak now. The Ebola virus is comprised of ribonucleic acid (RNA). That is why patients stricken with Ebola develop very high amounts of the virus in the blood and in the feces, and not in their respiratory secretions.Could Ebola mutate in a way that confers these qualities on the virus?Anything is possible. This sort of transmission is sometimes also referred to as “droplet contact” or “viral droplet nuclei transmission.”For this article, I am focused on the latter circumstance -- whether or not Ebola could mutate in a way that makes it highly contagious through the air, by allowing the individual viral particles to survive for long periods suspended in dry air.Right now, Ebola is spread through direct contact with the body fluids of actively infected individuals. Reston virus was first described in 1990 as a new "strain" of Ebola virus (EBOV). Ebola generally isn’t an infection of the lungs. Such a structure makes it prone to undergoing rapid genetic changes. You can follow me on Twitter @ScottGottliebMD. I work with firms engaged in the financing of early stage healthcare ventures, giving me a firm grounding in how policies conceived in Washington are impacting private entrepreneurship on Main Street and the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, and policy. Researchers around the world are tracking the mutations in the coronavirus as it reproduces and spreads to ensure changes in the virus do not affect the development of the vaccine. Of the 23 known viruses that cause serious disease in man, none are known to have mutated in ways that changed how they infect humans. We know the virus is mutating. Such a structure makes it prone to undergoing rapid genetic changes. Could it adapt in a way that makes it airborne?It’s highly unlikely. Nonetheless, the fact that the Ebola virus is undergoing rapid changes reinforces the urgency of getting this epidemic under control. Airborne transmission allows organisms to enter the upper and lower respiratory tracts. The Ebola virus becoming airborne is a possible but unlikely outcome in the current epidemic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 faxThe contents of this site are ©2020 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc. I previously worked at the Food and Drug Administration as…Scott Gottlieb, MD: I’m a physician and a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. The Centers for Disease Control When a viral infection becomes “airborne,” like ordinary influenza, it means that discharged microbes remain suspended in the air for long periods of time.