Understanding Ebola Virus Transmission

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

An unprecedented number of Ebola virus infections among healthcare workers and patients have raised questions about our understanding of Ebola virus transmission. Here, we explore different routes of Ebola virus transmission between people, summarizing the known epidemiological and experimental data. From this data, we expose important gaps in Ebola virus research pertinent to outbreak situations. We further propose experiments and methods of data collection that will enable scientists to fill these voids in our knowledge about the transmission of Ebola virus.

Related collections

Most cited references 19

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Factors involved in the aerosol transmission of infection and control of ventilation in healthcare premises

J.W. Tang, Y. Li, I Eames … (2006)

Summary The epidemics of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 highlighted both short- and long-range transmission routes, i.e. between infected patients and healthcare workers, and between distant locations. With other infections such as tuberculosis, measles and chickenpox, the concept of aerosol transmission is so well accepted that isolation of such patients is the norm. With current concerns about a possible approaching influenza pandemic, the control of transmission via infectious air has become more important. Therefore, the aim of this review is to describe the factors involved in: (1) the generation of an infectious aerosol, (2) the transmission of infectious droplets or droplet nuclei from this aerosol, and (3) the potential for inhalation of such droplets or droplet nuclei by a susceptible host. On this basis, recommendations are made to improve the control of aerosol-transmitted infections in hospitals as well as in the design and construction of future isolation facilities.

0 comments Cited 273 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Rapid diagnosis of Ebola hemorrhagic fever by reverse transcription-PCR in an outbreak setting and assessment of patient viral load as a predictor of outcome.

Jonathan S. Towner, Pierre Rollin, Daniel Bausch … (2004)

The largest outbreak on record of Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) occurred in Uganda from August 2000 to January 2001. The outbreak was centered in the Gulu district of northern Uganda, with secondary transmission to other districts. After the initial diagnosis of Sudan ebolavirus by the National Institute for Virology in Johannesburg, South Africa, a temporary diagnostic laboratory was established within the Gulu district at St. Mary's Lacor Hospital. The laboratory used antigen capture and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) to diagnose Sudan ebolavirus infection in suspect patients. The RT-PCR and antigen-capture diagnostic assays proved very effective for detecting ebolavirus in patient serum, plasma, and whole blood. In samples collected very early in the course of infection, the RT-PCR assay could detect ebolavirus 24 to 48 h prior to detection by antigen capture. More than 1,000 blood samples were collected, with multiple samples obtained from many patients throughout the course of infection. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR was used to determine the viral load in multiple samples from patients with fatal and nonfatal cases, and these data were correlated with the disease outcome. RNA copy levels in patients who died averaged 2 log(10) higher than those in patients who survived. Using clinical material from multiple EHF patients, we sequenced the variable region of the glycoprotein. This Sudan ebolavirus strain was not derived from either the earlier Boniface (1976) or Maleo (1979) strain, but it shares a common ancestor with both. Furthermore, both sequence and epidemiologic data are consistent with the outbreak having originated from a single introduction into the human population.

0 comments Cited 115 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Infection risks following accidental exposure to blood or body fluids in health care workers: A review of pathogens transmitted in published cases

Arnaud Tarantola, Dominique Abiteboul, Anne Rachline (2006)

Hospital staff and all other human or veterinary health care workers, including laboratory, research, emergency service, or cleaning personnel are exposed to the risk of occupational infection following accidental exposure to blood or body fluids (BBF) contaminated with a virus, a bacteria, a parasite, or a yeast. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or those of hepatitis B (HBV) or C (HCV) account for most of this risk in France and worldwide. Many other pathogens, however, have been responsible for occupational infections in health care workers following exposure to BBF, some with unfavorable prognosis. In developed countries, a growing number of workers are referred to clinicians responsible for the evaluation of occupational infection risks following accidental exposure. Although their principal task remains the evaluation of the risks of HIV, HBV, or HCV transmission and the possible usefulness of postexposure prophylaxis, these experts are also responsible for evaluating risks of occupational infection with other emergent or more rare pathogens and their possible timely prevention. The determinants of the risks of infection and the characteristics of described cases are discussed in this article.

0 comments Cited 77 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Jens H. Kuhn: Role: Academic Editor

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Viruses

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Viruses

Journal ID (publisher-id): viruses

Title: Viruses

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Electronic): 1999-4915

Publication date (Electronic): 03 February 2015

Publication date Collection: February 2015

Volume: 7

Issue: 2

Pages: 511-521

Affiliations

Laboratory of Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA; E-Mails: sethdjudson@ 123456gmail.com (S.J.); prescottjb@ 123456niaid.nih.gov (J.P.)

Author notes

[* ]Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: munstervj@ 123456niaid.nih.gov ; Tel.: +1-406-375-7489.

Article

Publisher ID: viruses-07-00511

DOI: 10.3390/v7020511

PMC ID: 4353901

PubMed ID: 25654239

SO-VID: 7e130e9c-73a9-4b6c-827d-e060930d5949

License:

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

History

Date received : 07 December 2014

Date accepted : 29 January 2015

Comments

Comment on this article

scite_

Cited by 27

See all cited by

Understanding Ebola Virus Transmission

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Decoding Infection and Transmission

Most cited references 19

Factors involved in the aerosol transmission of infection and control of ventilation in healthcare premises

Rapid diagnosis of Ebola hemorrhagic fever by reverse transcription-PCR in an outbreak setting and assessment of patient viral load as a predictor of outcome.

Infection risks following accidental exposure to blood or body fluids in health care workers: A review of pathogens transmitted in published cases

Author and article information

Contributors

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 738

Cited by 27