SO BACK DURING THE LAST EBOLA OUTBREAK, SOME OF US (INCLUDING ME) SPECULATED THAT THE DISEASE HAD EVOLVED INTO A MORE DANGEROUS FORM, and some people called that irresponsible scaremongering. But now there’s this: Ebola Evolved Into Deadlier Enemy During the African Epidemic.

The Ebola epidemic that tore through West Africa in 2014 claimed 11,310 lives, far more than any previous outbreak. A combination of factors contributed to its savagery, among them a mobile population, crumbling public health systems, official neglect and hazardous burial practices.

But new research suggests another impetus: The virus may have evolved a new weapon against its human hosts. In studies published on Thursday in the journal Cell, two teams of scientists report that a genetic mutation may have made Ebola more deadly by improving the virus’s ability to enter human cells.

The researchers do not yet understand exactly how it works, but several lines of evidence suggest it helped expand the scope of the epidemic. One alarming finding: Patients infected with the mutated version of Ebola were significantly more likely to die.

“It’s hard to escape the conclusion that it’s an adaptation to the human host,” said Dr. Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and an author of one of the new studies. . . . Collectively, Dr. Luban said, the evidence points strongly to the conclusion that Ebola’s mutation helped it spread more effectively in people.

Unlike Rush Limbaugh, I don’t say “Don’t doubt me!” In fact, I encourage people to doubt what I say here, just as they should be skeptical of every information source. On the other hand, I thought my speculation here was reasonable and supported by the evidence, and it has turned out to be correct.

And I’m also right about the need for agencies like the CDC to focus on infectious disease threats instead of fashionable social engineering.