Did you know that the Ebola virus can stay in the human body for up to one week after death? That is why strict burial protocols are being implemented by the World Health Organization to lessen cross infection from the dead body and the relatives of the victims.
Researchers from the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana discovered that the Ebola virus can survive for up to seven days after the death of its host. They found traces of the active virus inside the dead bodies of several dead laboratory monkeys for seven days.
They also found out that aside from the virus staying up to seven day in the corpses, non-infectious genetic material can still be present up to ten times longer than the amount of time. The researchers were from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and they successfully identified the ability of the Ebola virus to survive in the bodies of the victims - one thing that has not been examined in the past.
Their report was published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases and they are hoping that their study can help health care workers battle the potentially deadly virus that has ravaged West Africa since December 2013.
According to the World Health Organization, patients who died from Ebola should be handled using appropriate protective equipment and should be buried immediately by public health professionals who are trained in safe burial procedures.
This policy has long been implemented by the WHO in West Africa because of their traditional funeral rites that expose relatives to the deadly virus. They have prohibited these funeral rites to limit the transmission of the virus.
In the study as reported by Capital OC, it says, "Immediately after euthanasia, multiple samples were collected: oral, nasal, ocular, urogenital, rectal, skin, and blood (pooled in the body cavity) swab samples and tissue biopsy specimens."
The dead bodies were placed in vented plastic containers in a controlled temperature to copy and mimic the humidity and climate in West Africa. Then they conducted a series of genetic tests for over ten weeks.
They also explained that the virus needs a live host to thrive. As its host dies, it also dies but not immediately. This study provides a body of knowledge that can help curb the spread of the deadly virus that has killed over 21,000 in the past year.
