Showing posts with label Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. Show all posts

Friday, October 31, 2014

WHO Ebola Update: 10/29/14

The latest WHO Ebola update document has been posted and can be found here. As of 10/27 there have been 13,703 cases with 4,922 deaths. Mali had its first case on 10/23, a 2 year old girl who traveled there with her grandmother from Guinea. In the US there have been 4 cases and 1 death. The outbreak remains uncontrolled in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Friday, October 24, 2014

WHO: Updated Ebola Outbreak Information

The latest WHO Ebola situation report can be found here. Key points:

1) As of 10/19 there have been 9,936 cases and 4,877 deaths
2) The outbreak in Senegal was declared over on 10/17
3) The outbreak in Nigeria was declared over on 10/19

Up until 10/19 there had been only 3 cases in the US (now 4 given the physician who has developed Ebola after returning from Guinea-not on the latest WHO document). For the 3 reported on in the WHO document there were 172 possible contacts of these patients 60 of who were past the 21 day incubation period and therefore deemed non-infected.


Saturday, August 16, 2014

West Africa Ebola Outbreak: August 15th Update

The WHO has released updated information on the total number of people affected by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa: as of August 15th there have been 2,127 suspected and confirmed cases with 1,145 deaths.

Cases are being reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.

The CDC has a lot of very nice, targeted health information about Ebola: see here.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Ebola Outbreak Update: July 31-August 1

cdc.gov
The World Health Organization has posted updated information on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Between July 31 and August 1 there were 163 new (presumptive) cases with 61 deaths; cases are being reported from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

The total number of presumptive cases is now 1,603 with 887 deaths; at this point the outbreak is nowhere near contained and current infection control efforts appear inadequate. Unfortunately there are no Ebola-specific therapies available; treatment is supportive in nature and the disease carries a very high mortality rate (71-86% based on a recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine).

Total Ebola Cases/ Deaths Per Country to Date
As noted recently by CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden "Ebola poses little risk to the U.S. general population." From an infection control standpoint preventing disease transmission is relatively easy, at least on paper and in resource-rich environments. The disease can be prevented by preventing contact with potentially infected blood and body fluids in people with suspected infection, coupled with aggressive contact tracing, monitoring and isolation of people who may have been exposed. This said, there are many barriers to effectively controlling the current epidemic, not the least of which is access to critical infection control resources and personnel.

One of the factors that promoted the expansion of the current outbreak was the long time it took for the outbreak to be recognized. Cases of people with a disease characterized by vomiting and diarrhea with a high mortality rate were first identified in clusters in Guinea in December 2013; the outbreak was not reported to international authorities until March 2014. As a global community we need to promote access to resources and technology that support the rapid detection and diagnosis of key infectious diseases; this is in all of our best interests. This current outbreak is yet another reminder that new (and old) diseases will continue to emerge and that something that emerges in a 'remote' part of the world can rapidly become a global issue.



Sunday, July 13, 2014

Ebola Outbreak in West Africa

Areas involved with current outbreak 
The WHO recently reported on the status of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa; as of July 8th there have been 888 cases with 539 deaths. Although the outbreak seems to be slowing in Guinea it is still very active in Sierra Leone and Liberia, where 44 new cases and 21 deaths were reported between July 6 and 8.

Ebola Virus Disease (EBV), also known as Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, refers to a viral infection with several different species of a filovirus. First identified in two outbreaks in the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976, Ebola causes a severe acute illness characterized by bleeding and a mortality rate up to 90%.

Most of the Ebola outbreaks to date have occurred in small villages in West and Central Africa near tropical rain forests. The natural host of the virus is believed to be fruit bats. Animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas and monkeys can become infected with the virus after coming in contact with bats; these animals are "accidental" hosts, just like humans. Humans become infected via handling blood and body fluids from infected bats or other animals. Once someone is infected with the virus they then go on to serve as a source of transmission to other humans via their own infected blood, tissues and secretions.

The incubation period for Ebola after being infected is anywhere from 2-21 days; humans are not
infectious until they develop symptomatic illness. Ebola initially is a non-specific illness characterized by sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pains, sore throat and headache. These symptoms are followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, organ dysfunction and sometimes bleeding. Once symptomatic, a person's blood and body fluids are highly infectious and serve as a source for potential human to human transmission of disease.

As noted above, Ebola is associated with mortality rates of up to 90%. There is no specific treatment or vaccine for the disease.

Distribution of different Ebola outbreaks
The ongoing, sustained outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is concerning for several key reasons. This large-scale outbreak in multiple locations is testament to just how 'small' the world has become. A disease that emerges in a rural village can spread rapidly to major cities and, theoretically, to the rest of the world. This is a great reminder that we all should be concerned with and help in the response to outbreaks such as these. Also, this outbreak highlights some of the barriers to enacting the infection control measures that would allow for its control. Specifically, it is believed some cultural burial practices have perpetuated the outbreak via exposing uninfected people to the infected blood, secretions and organs of Ebola victims.

The WHO has terrific information on Ebola available here. Some great information is also available from the CDC.