Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
14-Jul-2014
Contact: Caree Vander Linden
teresa.l.vanderlinden.civ@mail.mil
301-619-2285
US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
Sierra Leone samples: Ebola evidence in West Africa in 2006
USAMRIID providing on-site laboratory support to current outbreak
Analysis of clinical samples from suspected Lassa fever cases in Sierra Leone showed that about two-thirds of the patients had been exposed to other emerging diseases, and nearly nine percent tested positive for Ebola virus. The study, published in this month's edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases, demonstrates that Ebola virus has been circulating in the region since at least 2006?well before the current outbreak.
...
Using assays developed at USAMRIID that detects the presence of IgM, an early protein produced by the body to ward off infection, the research team found evidence of dengue fever, West Nile, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, chikungunya, Ebola, and Marburg viruses in the samples collected between 2006 and 2008.
In addition, of the samples that tested positive for Ebola, the vast majority reacted to the Zaire strain, which was unexpected, according to the authors.
"Prior to the current outbreak, only one case of Ebola had ever been officially reported in this region, and it was from the Ivory Coast strain," said Schoepp. "We were surprised to see that Zaire?or a variant of Zaire?was causing infection in West Africa several years ago."
The laboratory testing site in Kenema is supported by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center-Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System. In collaboration with the host country, the site enables collection of samples that can be used in research toward new medical countermeasures, and allows USAMRIID to evaluate the performance of previously developed laboratory tests using samples collected on-site. The Institute hopes to eventually obtain viral isolates for medical countermeasure development and receive data on the performance of the diagnostic assays.
...
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-07/uamr-sls071414.php
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volume 20, Number 7?July 2014
Research
Undiagnosed Acute Viral Febrile Illnesses, Sierra Leone
Randal J. Schoepp , Cynthia A. Rossi, Sheik H. Khan, Augustine Goba, and Joseph N. Fair
Author affiliations: US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Maryland, USA (R.J. Schoepp, C.A. Rossi); Kenema Government Hospital, Kenema, Sierra Leone (S.H. Khan, A. Goba); Metabiota, San Francisco, California, USA (J.N. Fair)
...
Results
We tested serum samples from 253 patients submitted to the Lassa Diagnostic Laboratory during 2006?2008 for IgM to the arthropod-borne and hemorrhagic fever viruses of interest (Table 2). Because of limited amounts of serum, not all samples were tested for antibodies to all viruses. Of the arthropod-borne viruses, the prevalence of DENV antibodies (4.3%) was highest, followed by CHIKV (4.0%). The prevalences of other viruses were <3.0%; WNV, 2.8%; YFV, 2.5%; and RVFV, 2.0% of patients tested. No antibodies to the tick-borne virus, CCHFV, were found in any samples tested. Antibody prevalence to the hemorrhagic fever viruses, EBOV and MBGV, were 8.6% and 3.6%, respectively.
...
Our presumptive results provide some insight into the other viruses causing acute disease in the patients whose samples were submitted to the Lassa Diagnostic Laboratory. Although our results are not definitive, they demonstrate arthropod-borne and hemorrhagic fever viruses that should be considered when Lassa fever is suspected. These continued studies will add to the body of knowledge for Lassa fever and other arthropod-borne diseases and hemorrhagic fevers that occur naturally within Sierra Leone and West Africa.
...
Full text:
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/7/13-1265_article
14-Jul-2014
Contact: Caree Vander Linden
teresa.l.vanderlinden.civ@mail.mil
301-619-2285
US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
Sierra Leone samples: Ebola evidence in West Africa in 2006
USAMRIID providing on-site laboratory support to current outbreak
Analysis of clinical samples from suspected Lassa fever cases in Sierra Leone showed that about two-thirds of the patients had been exposed to other emerging diseases, and nearly nine percent tested positive for Ebola virus. The study, published in this month's edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases, demonstrates that Ebola virus has been circulating in the region since at least 2006?well before the current outbreak.
...
Using assays developed at USAMRIID that detects the presence of IgM, an early protein produced by the body to ward off infection, the research team found evidence of dengue fever, West Nile, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, chikungunya, Ebola, and Marburg viruses in the samples collected between 2006 and 2008.
In addition, of the samples that tested positive for Ebola, the vast majority reacted to the Zaire strain, which was unexpected, according to the authors.
"Prior to the current outbreak, only one case of Ebola had ever been officially reported in this region, and it was from the Ivory Coast strain," said Schoepp. "We were surprised to see that Zaire?or a variant of Zaire?was causing infection in West Africa several years ago."
The laboratory testing site in Kenema is supported by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center-Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System. In collaboration with the host country, the site enables collection of samples that can be used in research toward new medical countermeasures, and allows USAMRIID to evaluate the performance of previously developed laboratory tests using samples collected on-site. The Institute hopes to eventually obtain viral isolates for medical countermeasure development and receive data on the performance of the diagnostic assays.
...
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-07/uamr-sls071414.php
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volume 20, Number 7?July 2014
Research
Undiagnosed Acute Viral Febrile Illnesses, Sierra Leone
Randal J. Schoepp , Cynthia A. Rossi, Sheik H. Khan, Augustine Goba, and Joseph N. Fair
Author affiliations: US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Maryland, USA (R.J. Schoepp, C.A. Rossi); Kenema Government Hospital, Kenema, Sierra Leone (S.H. Khan, A. Goba); Metabiota, San Francisco, California, USA (J.N. Fair)
...
Results
We tested serum samples from 253 patients submitted to the Lassa Diagnostic Laboratory during 2006?2008 for IgM to the arthropod-borne and hemorrhagic fever viruses of interest (Table 2). Because of limited amounts of serum, not all samples were tested for antibodies to all viruses. Of the arthropod-borne viruses, the prevalence of DENV antibodies (4.3%) was highest, followed by CHIKV (4.0%). The prevalences of other viruses were <3.0%; WNV, 2.8%; YFV, 2.5%; and RVFV, 2.0% of patients tested. No antibodies to the tick-borne virus, CCHFV, were found in any samples tested. Antibody prevalence to the hemorrhagic fever viruses, EBOV and MBGV, were 8.6% and 3.6%, respectively.
...
Our presumptive results provide some insight into the other viruses causing acute disease in the patients whose samples were submitted to the Lassa Diagnostic Laboratory. Although our results are not definitive, they demonstrate arthropod-borne and hemorrhagic fever viruses that should be considered when Lassa fever is suspected. These continued studies will add to the body of knowledge for Lassa fever and other arthropod-borne diseases and hemorrhagic fevers that occur naturally within Sierra Leone and West Africa.
...
Full text:
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/7/13-1265_article