The nightmare scenario: a mutating Ebola that spreads easier
Some researchers believe that the longer the virus rages, the likelier it is that it will change into a form that spreads more easily
The Ebola virus circulating in West Africa is already different from previous strains.
Researchers have identified more than 300 new viral mutations in the latest strain of Ebola, according to research published in the journal last month. They are rushing to investigate if this strain of the disease produces higher virus levels - which could increase its infectiousness.
So far, there is no data to indicate that. The risk was that the longer the epidemic went on, the greater the chance the virus could become more transmissible, making it harder to stop, said Charles Chiu, an infectious disease physician at the University of California at San Francisco.
"If the outbreak continues for a prolonged period of time or it becomes endemic, it may mutate into a form that is more virulent. It is really hard to predict."
Viruses such as Ebola are constantly mutating. Some mutations were good for the virus and some were bad for it, said Ian Mackay, a virologist at the University of Queensland. It is the ones that are good for the virus that tend to stick around.