Browsing by Author "MacNeil, Adam"

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    Proportion of Deaths and Clinical Features in Bundibugyo Ebola Virus Infection, Uganda
    (Emerging infectious diseases, 2010) MacNeil, Adam; Farnon, Eileen C.; Wamala, Joseph; Okware, Sam; Cannon, Deborah L.; Reed, Zachary; Towner, Jonathan S.; Tappero, Jordan W.; Lutwama, Julius; Ksiazek, Thomas G.; Rollin, Pierre E.; Downing, Robert; Nichol, Stuart T.
    Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) is a severe disease caused by several species of Ebolavirus (EBOV), in the family Filoviridae. Before 2007, four species of EBOV had been identifi ed; 2 of these, Zaire ebolavirus and Sudan ebolavirus, have caused large human outbreaks in Africa, with proportion of deaths ≈80%–90% and 50%, respectively (1–5). Large outbreaks are associated with person-to-person transmission after the virus is introduced into humans from a zoonotic reservoir. Data suggest that this reservoir may be fruit bats (6,7). During outbreaks of EHF, the virus is commonly transmitted through direct contact with infected persons or their bodily fl uids (8–11). The onset of EHF is associated with nonspecifi c signs and symptoms, including fever, myalgias, headache, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; at later stages of disease, overt hemorrhage has been reported in ≈45% of cases (12). Bundibugyo District is located in western Uganda, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo. After reports of a mysterious illness in Bundibugyo District, the presence of a novel, fi fth EBOV virus species, Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BEBOV), was identifi ed in diagnostic samples submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia, USA, in November 2007 (13). In response to detection of EBOV, an international outbreak response was initiated. In this report, we summarize fi ndings of laboratory-confi rmed cases of BEBOV infection.