Ebola: Knowledge foundation

We crosslink hemoglobin (Hb), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and carbonic anhydrase (CA) to form a soluble polyHb-SOD-CAT-CA nanobiotechnological complex. The obtained product is a soluble complex with three enhanced red blood cell (RBC) functions and without blood group antigens. In the present study, 2/3 of blood volume was removed to result in 90-min hemorrhagic shock at mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) of 30 mmHg. This was followed by the reinfusion of different resuscitation fluids, then followed for another 60 min...

With the outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EBD) accelerating in West Africa, public health authorities are urging frontline providers in the United States to be vigilant in questioning patients who present with a suspected infectious disease, and in adhering to infection control practices. Recent travel to West Africa and contact with others who may have been exposed to EVD are key points that need to be covered at triage, say experts. The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that mortality from the latest outbreak is 55%, although it is as high as 75% in Guinea...

With the Ebola epidemic in West Africa continuing to grow, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an urgent meeting on September 29 and 30 to assess the efforts under way to evaluate and produce safe and effective Ebola vaccines as soon as possible. The 70 scientists, public health officials,..

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (EVD) occur sporadically in Africa and are associated with high case-fatality rates. Historically, children have been less affected than adults. The 2000-2001 Sudan virus-associated EVD outbreak in the Gulu district of Uganda resulted in 55 pediatric and 161 adult laboratory-confirmed cases. We used a series of multiplex assays to measure the concentrations of 55 serum analytes in specimens from patients from that outbreak to identify biomarkers specific to pediatric disease...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

On August 29, 2014, Senegal confirmed its first case of Ebola virus disease (Ebola) in a Guinean man, aged 21 years, who had traveled from Guinea to Dakar, Senegal, in mid-August to visit family. Senegalese medical and public health personnel were alerted about this patient after public health staff in Guinea contacted his family in Senegal on August 27. The patient had been admitted to a referral hospital in Senegal on August 26. He was promptly isolated, and a blood sample was sent for laboratory confirmation; Ebola was confirmed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction at Institut Pasteur Dakar on August 29...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The purpose of this report is to emphasize the potential utility for the use of melatonin in the treatment of individuals who are infected with the Ebola virus. The pathological changes associated with an Ebola infection include, most notably, endothelial disruption, disseminated intravascular coagulation and multiple organ hemorrhage. Melatonin has been shown to target these alterations. Numerous similarities between Ebola virus infection and septic shock have been recognized for more than a decade. Moreover, melatonin has been successfully employed for the treatment of sepsis in many experimental and clinical studies...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

This interactive graphic provides information on past and present Ebola outbreaks, as well as on the current understanding of the Ebola virus and its effects in humans. The graphic, including our outbreak map, will be updated and expanded as more information becomes available.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Ebola virus (EBOV) infections cause lethal hemorrhagic fever in humans, resulting in up to 90% mortality. EBOV outbreaks are sporadic and unpredictable in nature; therefore, a vaccine that is able to provide durable immunity is needed to protect those who are at risk of exposure to the virus. This study assesses the long-term efficacy of the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-based vaccine (VSVΔG/EBOVGP) in two rodent models of EBOV infection. Mice and guinea pigs were first immunized with 2×10(4) or 2×10(5) plaque forming units (PFU) of VSVΔG/EBOVGP, respectively...

Without an approved vaccine or treatments, Ebola outbreak management has been limited to palliative care and barrier methods to prevent transmission. These approaches, however, have yet to end the 2014 outbreak of Ebola after its prolonged presence in West Africa. Here we show that a combination of monoclonal antibodies (ZMapp), optimized from two previous antibody cocktails, is able to rescue 100% of rhesus macaques when treatment is initiated up to 5 days post-challenge. High fever, viraemia and abnormalities in blood count and blood chemistry were evident in many animals before ZMapp intervention...

The largest ever Ebola virus disease outbreak is ravaging West Africa. The constellation of little public health infrastructure, low levels of health literacy, limited acute care and infection prevention and control resources, densely populated areas, and a highly transmissible and lethal viral infection have led to thousands of confirmed, probable, or suspected cases thus far. Ebola virus disease is characterized by a febrile severe illness with profound gastrointestinal manifestations and is complicated by intravascular volume depletion, shock, profound electrolyte abnormalities, and organ dysfunction...

UNLABELLED: Infections with Marburg virus (MARV) and Ebola virus (EBOV) cause severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates (NHPs) with fatality rates up to 90%. A number of experimental vaccine and treatment platforms have previously been shown to be protective against EBOV infection. However, the rate of development for prophylactics and therapeutics against MARV has been lower in comparison, possibly because a small-animal model is not widely available. Here we report the development of a mouse model for studying the pathogenesis of MARV Angola (MARV/Ang), the most virulent strain of MARV...

UNLABELLED: Ebola virus (EBOV) belongs to the group of nonsegmented negative-sense RNA viruses. The seven EBOV genes are separated by variable gene borders, including short (4- or 5-nucleotide) intergenic regions (IRs), a single long (144-nucleotide) IR, and gene overlaps, where the neighboring gene end and start signals share five conserved nucleotides. The unique structure of the gene overlaps and the presence of a single long IR are conserved among all filoviruses. Here, we sought to determine the impact of the EBOV gene borders during viral transcription...