--- title: Ebola: Study in Mice Shows Genes Impact Response description: A new mice study may help explain Ebola's varying impacts canonical: https://time.com/3550986/ebola-why-some-survive/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-31T16:48:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:27.300Z article:section: Health og:title: Ebola: Study in Mice Shows Genes Impact Response og:description: A new mice study may help explain Ebola's varying impacts og:url: https://time.com/3550986/ebola-why-some-survive/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ebola: Study in Mice Shows Genes Impact Response twitter:description: A new mice study may help explain Ebola's varying impacts twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Might Be Why Some Survive Ebola > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=08cff95e-2fd8-42b6-9344-fb62f4970765&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Nigeria is an Ebola Success Story: Here's What The Country Did Right [Watch (HLS stream): Nigeria is an Ebola Success Story: Here's What The Country Did Right](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mSo7iFZ3.m3u8) (2:43)  _Published 2014-10-21. The World Health Organization declared Nigeria free of Ebola on Monday, a containment victory in an outbreak that has stymied other countries’ response efforts._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 31, 2014 4:48 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 31, 2014 4:48 PM UTC Scientists in a biosafety level 4 lab have discovered that genetics are likely involved in how susceptible someone is to Ebola, finds a new mice [study](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2014/10/29/science.1259595.full) published in the journal _Science_. Why some people survive Ebola and others do not, even when they’re treated in the same conditions, is a question that’s long intrigued researchers. The current outbreak has also revealed that humans show symptoms of the disease differently; a significant number do not present hemorrhagic fever symptoms like heavy diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding before death. So far, researchers have primarily used monkeys to study the Ebola virus, but in the new study, the researchers discovered that a genetically diverse population of mice had wide variations in their responses and symptoms to the Ebola virus—similar to how humans have reacted. It’s notable because mice very rarely have similar immune responses to humans, which is why discoveries made in mouse models are evaluated skeptically. When the researchers infected the mice with Ebola, they found that some of the mice survived with mild disease symptoms, some died, and some died with severe hemorrhagic fever symptoms similar to those observed in humans. Researchers Michael G. Katze and Angela L. Rasmussen of the University of Washington also identified a few potential genetic pathways that might differ in mice who survive the disease versus those who die from it. The hope is that these pathways could help researchers develop drugs for the disease. “We now have a model that represents the human Ebola disease that we could test vaccines in, we could test novel therapeutics in, and we also could start getting information about the genes that are responsible for the resistance to Ebola and the susceptibility to Ebola,” said Katze in a video about the study. Before the researchers can make the leap to developing drugs for humans, they will have to confirm that the pathways also exist in humans and work in the same way. But the new research is a starting point. The team started studying the progression of the Ebola virus in mice a few years ago, before the current outbreak of Ebola started in West Africa. Only a handful of of scientists work in the few high-security containment labs in the United States. The training, Katze told TIME, is intense and requires psychological testing. “We’ve been studying Ebola for almost a decade. We’ve always been interested in Ebola because it’s a very interesting virus. It’s like the rockstar of viruses,” Katze [told TIME in early October](http://time.com/3481378/ebola-emerging-diseases/). [Read on](http://time.com/3481378/ebola-emerging-diseases/) for more about the scientists’ emerging Ebola research. ## Transcript [00:02] Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, is free of [00:05] Ebola after it went 42 straight days with no new cases [00:09] reported. As the epidemic rages out of control in [00:13] neighboring Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, how did [00:16] Nigeria become an Ebola success story? [ MUSIC ] [00:19] Declaring an emergency right away. When Nigeria had [00:23] its first confirmed case of Ebola, the government [00:25] declared a national public health emergency [00:28] immediately. That means that strict procedures for [00:31] treating patients and screening people were quickly [00:34] put into place. For example, local health workers [00:38] paid $ 18, 500 face to face visits to take the [00:43] temperatures of nearly 900 people who had contact [00:46] with Ebola patients. Training local doctors. [00:51] The World Health Organization and Doctors Without [00:54] Borders trained local doctors on how to treat patients [00:57] effectively. But the country posed a unique challenge [01:00] as the number of people living in Lagos is around 21 [01:04] million. That's almost as large as the populations of [01:07] Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone combined. How can [01:10] the disease be contained under such circumstances? [01:13] The answer, high quality contact tracing by [01:16] experienced epidemiologists. With the help of GPS [01:19] systems and daily mapping, government officials [01:22] reached 100 % of known contacts in Lagos and placed [01:26] them in isolation wards. Managing Fear. Nigeria [01:31] used social media and televised campaigns to reach its [01:34] 174 million residents. To prevent panic, the [01:39] country showcased patients who were successfully [01:42] treated, and produced awareness campaigns on the [01:45] disease. From national TV appearances by the [01:47] president, to an online campaign starting Nigerian [01:50] actors. No effort was spared to reassure the country's [01:54] vast population. 0800 EBOLA HELP now. Keeping [02:00] borders open. Nigeria made the decision of keeping [02:04] it's frontiers open to travelers from Sierra Leone, [02:07] Liberia, and Guinea. Saying that closing the borders [02:10] would only hurt commercial activities in the countries [02:13] whose economies were already struggling due to [02:16] Ebola. At the same time effective screening procedures [02:20] checked incoming visitors. The average number of [02:23] travelers screened each day reached more than [02:26] 16, 000. Even though the outbreak was contained [02:31] Nigeria is now slowing down its training and [02:33] preparation procedures in case there are new cases. 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