Study to Examine Genetic Susceptibility to Ebola Launches in Liberia | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Study to Examine Genetic Susceptibility to Ebola Launches in Liberia | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Friday November 3, 2017

Study Examining Genetic Susceptibility to Ebola Launches in Liberia

A team of scientists from NIAID, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Boston, and a U.S.-Liberia clinical research collaboration known as the Partnership for Research on Ebola Virus in Liberia (PREVAIL) have begun a large study in Liberia to examine how genes affect a person’s response to the Ebola virus. It remains unclear why some infections are asymptomatic while others are fatal, or why some people rapidly clear the infection while others remain in treatment for weeks, and investigators predict that genetic differences could influence these outcomes. Participants will include people with no known Ebola exposure as well as Ebola survivors and their household contacts.