London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

David Heymann, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said:

"No-one can predict what will happen with the mutation of the virus, and there is no evidence to suggest that it will become a respiratory virus. Its epidemiology is consistent with transmission via blood, bodily secretions and excretions, which is exactly the same as other past epidemics. Other viruses that transmit in a similar manner by blood, such as Hepatitis B and HIV, have not mutated in this manner. In order for Ebola to change, the virus would have to develop the capacity to attach to receptors in the respiratory system."

Professor Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, said:

"To suggest that Ebola could become airborne is completely irresponsible. The way the virus is spreading is consistent with what we've seen in all previous 25 outbreaks, only transmitting through blood and bodily secretions. There is no precedent for a virus changing its mode of transmission so drastically. Other viruses such as HIV - which transmit in the same way, have passed through millions of humans, and are known to mutate more than Ebola - have not become airborne. Making such claims is an unwelcome distraction from the urgent need to scale up the international response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in West Africa."