EBOLA VIRUS 'EASY TO CONTAIN IN THEORY' SAYS MAN WHO DISCOVERED IT

Professor Peter Piot, the director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the virus, although deadly, is 'in theory easy to contain'

Professor Peter Piot, the director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the scientist who discoverd the Ebola virus in 1976, in Zaire, said the disease, although aggressive is 'in theory easy to contain'.

 

He told CNN: 'Well it’s spectacular because once you get it, at least with this strain of Ebola, you’ve got like a 90 per cent chance of dying. 
 

'That’s spectacular by any standard – one of the most lethal viruses that exist. 
 

'On the other hand, you need really close contact to become infected. 
 

'So just being on the bus with someone with Ebola, that’s not a problem. 
 

'It’s also not iatrogenic [ph] so it’s not transmitted through, you know, droplets and so on. So it is really something that in theory is easy to contain.'