Ebola virus was retrospectively found to have infected a missionary doctor in Tandala, Zaire in 1972

[Emily]

http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/7441008

Ebola hemorrhagic fever: Tandala, Zaire, 1977-1978.
Heymann DL, Weisfeld JS, Webb PA, Johnson KM, Cairns T, Berquist H
The Journal of Infectious Diseases [1980, 142(3):372-376]

Abstract
Ebola virus was recovered from a nine-year-old girl who died of acute hemorrhagic fever in June 1977 at Tandala Hospital in northwestern Zaire, in the first reported recognized case of this disease since the discovery epidemics of 1976 in Zaire and Sudan. Investigations undertaken in the Tandala region revealed that two previous clinical infections with Ebola virus had occurred in 1972 and that about 7% of the residents had immunofluorescent antibodies to the virus. Females younger than 30 years of age had a higher prevalence of antibodies than males of comparable age, but above the age of 30 years there was no sex difference. No other clues to the still-mysterious natural reservoir of Ebola virus were uncovered.

Dr. Cairns describes being treated in a remote bush hospital yet no secondary cases occurred in treating health care workers or in his wife who did some of his nursing. It seems ebola virus was not well adapted to humans then.

'Worst kind of flu you can imagine': doctor describes surviving Ebola in 1972

Marlene Leung, CTVNews.ca
Published Tuesday, August 5, 2014 6:38PM EDT
Last Updated Tuesday, August 5, 2014 7:54PM EDT
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A U.S. doctor who contracted Ebola while working in Africa in the 1970s says his eventual recovery was a slow and lengthy process that took several months.

Dr. Tom Cairns contracted Ebola in 1972 ? four years before it was first discovered by researchers in 1976 -- while working at a hospital in Zaire, the country which eventually became part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Cairns said he came down with the virus after a patient who was almost "dead on arrival" came into the hospital. The patient died several minutes later and authorities later ordered an autopsy, which was performed by Cairns.

"In doing the autopsy, I stuck my finger with the scalpel and 12 days later I came down with what was a very, very severe infection (and) flu-like symptoms," Cairns told CTV News Channel on Tuesday.
...
After recovering, Cairns donated blood to researchers studying the virus. However, he doubts that his blood and antibody samples are being used in the current research on the experimental Ebola treatment ZMapp....

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/worst-...rviving-ebola-in-1972-1.1947318#ixzz3IkLaOWWY

 

[Donners]

Re: Ebola virus was retrospectively found to have infected a missionary doctor in Tandala, Zaire in 1972

In nearly 20 years of reading about Ebola I have never heard this. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Ebola virus was retrospectively found to have infected a missionary doctor in Tandala, Zaire in 1972

His current level of anitbodies (if any) might be of interest. Would he be the longest known survivor?

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