Five co-authors of a new Ebola study died of the virus before their research was published

[undeterred]

By Abby Ohlheiser August 29 at 1:45 PM

Underlining the immense risks taken by those working in West Africa to understand and combat the worsening Ebola outbreak, five co-authors of an important new Ebola study were killed by the virus before their research was published. The study, published Thursday in the journal Science, found that the virus has mutated during the outbreak — something that could hinder diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

The five deceased co-authors, who were from Sierra Leone’s Kenema Government Hospital Lassa fever facility, worked with the study’s lead researchers at Harvard University to examine the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. In all, the research involved more than 50 co-authors.

It’s an extraordinary study, and it came with an extraordinary toll. Pardi Sabeti, whose Harvard lab oversaw the genetic sequencing at the center of the research, told The Post’s Brady Dennis that the the experience of working on the international study was “one of the most rewarding and devastating experiences of my life,” with the thrill of conducting the collaborative research tempered by the sadness of losing numerous colleagues who were working on the front lines.

The study demonstrates just how effective an international research effort can be in the middle of a global health crisis. Researchers sequenced the virus genomes from 78 patients in the current outbreak, starting with its early days in the spring. Among other things, the international team of researchers managed to trace the outbreak in Sierra Leone to a single funeral in the country. Researchers discovered that a pregnant Kenema Government Hospital Ebola patient had, along with about a dozen other women who were also infected, attended the funeral of a traditional healer who was treating Ebola victims on the Sierra Leone-Guinea border.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2014/08/29/five-co-authors-of-a-new-ebola-study-died-of-the-virus-before-their-research-was-published/



Sheik Umar Khan, the head doctor fighting the deadly tropical virus Ebola in Sierra Leone, poses for a picture in Freetown in June. He died in July.(Umaru Fofana/Reuters)

[Warpy]

1. All were very, very brave

and I think the world owes a huge debt of gratitude to them. Their work might pave a way to a vaccine some day.

[Dems to Win]

2. I salute their courage

Such a tragedy. They had so much more to offer their communities.

R.I.P. The world will miss these brave scientists.

[locks]

3. Thank you for the post

These courageous health workers who live in the affected countries and the hundreds who have left their safe homes to help the patients living and dying with Ebola are the true heroes of our times. Their stories and the stories of the families who are left after this terrible epidemic should be told around the world. It is a small world now and we are all at risk.

Yesterday the Director of WHO estimated that at least 20,000 people will be infected during this outbreak, which means 10,000 will die and all 20,000 people will need very special care. He said Africa needs 750 trained international workers and 12,000 health care workers from the countries affected right now to keep the virus from spreading to the rest of the world.

The people of Liberia are deathly afraid to even be in a neighborhood where a person has died of Ebola, but some are willing to find and bury the bodies because their families are starving and the pay of $32 a day is a princely sum in Freetown.
Today we learned the bombing of Iraq since June has cost the US 7.5 million dollars a day.

[magical thyme]

4. they are true heros

so very courageous.

[polly7]

5. So sad.

Yes, heroes, all of them.