Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
|---|
| pharmacoinformatics-based identification of potential bioactive compounds against ebola virus protein vp24. | the impact of ebola virus disease (evd) is devastating with concomitant high fatalities. currently, various drugs and vaccines are at different stages of development, corroborating the need to identify new therapeutic molecules. the vp24 protein of the ebola virus (ebov) plays a key role in the pathology and replication of the evd. the vp24 protein interferes with the host immune response to viral infections and promotes nucleocapsid formation, thus making it a viable drug target. this study sou ... | 2019 | 31536833 |
| a vp35 mutant ebola virus lacks virulence but can elicit protective immunity to wild-type virus challenge. | zaire ebolavirus (ebov) vp35 protein is a suppressor of type i interferon (ifn) production, an inhibitor of dendritic cell maturation, and a putative virulence determinant. here, a recombinant ebov encoding a mutant vp35 virus (vp35m) is demonstrated to activate rig-i-like receptor signaling and innate antiviral pathways. when inoculated into cynomolgus macaques, vp35m exhibits dramatic attenuation as compared to wild-type ebov (wtebov), with 20 or 300 times the standard 100% lethal challenge do ... | 2019 | 31533029 |
| recovering from the ebola crisis: 'social reconnection groups' in a rural liberian community. | in 2014/2015, international medical corps (imc) operated two ebola treatment units (etus) in liberia and three in sierra leone when the ebola virus disease epidemic killed over 11,000 people across liberia, sierra leone and guinea. as ebola cases declined in liberia, imc psychosocial teams transitioned to working in communities highly affected by the epidemic. this article describes imc's experience with developing and implementing a community-based mental health and psychosocial group intervent ... | 2019 | 31531227 |
| learning from the epidemiological response to the 2014/15 ebola virus disease outbreak. | a large international response was needed to bring the 2014/15 west african ebola virus disease outbreak under control. this study sought to learn lessons from this epidemic to strengthen the response to future outbreaks of international significance by identifying priorities for future epidemiology training and response. epidemiologists who were deployed to west africa were recruited through a snowball sampling method and surveyed using an online anonymous questionnaire. associations between de ... | 2019 | 31529934 |
| health services and infrastructure recovery of a major public hospital in liberia during the 2014-2016 ebola epidemic. | during the 2014-2016 ebola outbreak, health services in liberia collapsed. health care facilities could not support effective infection prevention and control (ipc) practices to prevent ebola virus disease (evd) transmission necessitating their closure. this report describes the process by which health services and infrastructure were recovered in the public hospital in monrovia, liberia. the authors conducted an assessment of the existing capacity for health care provision, including qualitativ ... | 2019 | 31526416 |
| impact of intensive care unit supportive care on the physiology of ebola virus disease in a universally lethal non-human primate model. | there are currently limited data for the use of specific antiviral therapies for the treatment of ebola virus disease (evd). while there is anecdotal evidence that supportive care may be effective, there is a paucity of direct experimental data to demonstrate a role for supportive care in evd. we studied the impact of icu-level supportive care interventions including fluid resuscitation, vasoactive medications, blood transfusion, hydrocortisone, and ventilator support on the pathophysiology of e ... | 2019 | 31520194 |
| ebola virus in the democratic republic of the congo: advances and remaining obstacles in epidemic control, clinical care, and biomedical research. | 2020 | 31518557 | |
| effect of an intervention package and teamwork training to prevent healthcare personnel self-contamination during personal protective equipment doffing. | more than 28 000 people were infected with ebola virus during the 2014-2015 west african outbreak, resulting in more than 11 000 deaths. better methods are needed to reduce the risk of self-contamination while doffing personal protective equipment (ppe) to prevent pathogen transmission. | 2019 | 31517976 |
| evaluation of a redesigned personal protective equipment gown. | in healthcare, the goal of personal protective equipment (ppe) is to protect healthcare personnel (hcp) and patients from body fluids and infectious organisms via contact, droplet, or airborne transmission. the critical importance of using ppe properly is highlighted by 2 potentially fatal viral infections, severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus and ebola virus, where hcp became infected while caring for patients due to errors in the use of ppe. however, ppe in dealing with les ... | 2019 | 31517973 |
| host factor smyd3 is recruited by ebola virus nucleoprotein to facilitate viral mrna transcription. | the polymerase complex of ebola virus (ebov) is the functional unit for transcription and replication of viral genome. nucleoprotein (np) is a multifunctional protein with high rna binding affinity and recruits other viral proteins to form functional polymerase complex. in our study, we investigated host proteins associated with ebov polymerase complex using np as bait in a transcription and replication competent minigenome system by mass spectrometry analysis and identified set and mynd domain- ... | 2019 | 31516086 |
| leadership in times of crisis: the example of ebola virus disease in liberia. | the ebola epidemic of 2014-2015 was one of the most significant public health threats of the 21st century, a crisis that challenged leadership in west africa and around the world. using the experience of liberia's epidemic control efforts, we highlight the critical role that leadership played during four phases of the epidemic response: (1) crisis recognition and early mobilization; (2) the emergency phase; (3) the declining epidemic; and (4) the long tail. we examine how the decisions and actio ... | 2016 | 31514593 |
| exclusive: behind the front lines of the ebola wars. | 2019 | 31511689 | |
| understanding the role of community resilience in addressing the ebola virus disease epidemic in liberia: a qualitative study (community resilience in liberia). | background: there is an increasing recognition that community resilience plays a significant role in addressing health shocks like the ebola virus disease (evd) epidemic. however, the factors that constitute community resilience, and how these operate dynamically with other health system factors are less understood. objective: this paper seeks to understand key factors that constitute community resilience and their role in responding to the evd outbreak in liberia. methods: key informant intervi ... | 2019 | 31507254 |
| regulatory aspects of quality and safety for live recombinant viral vaccines against infectious diseases in japan. | recombinant viral vaccines expressing antigens of pathogenic microbes (e.g., hiv, ebola virus, and malaria) have been designed to overcome the insufficient immune responses induced by the conventional vaccines. our knowledge of and clinical experience with the new recombinant viral vaccines are insufficient, and a clear regulatory pathway is needed for the further development and evaluation of recombinant viral vaccines. in 2018, the research group supported by the ministry of health, labour and ... | 2019 | 31506194 |
| immunogenicity, lot consistency, and extended safety of rvsvδg-zebov-gp vaccine: a phase 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in healthy adults. | this double-blind study assessed immunogenicity, lot consistency, and safety of recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus-zaire ebola virus envelope glycoprotein vaccine (rvsvδg-zebov-gp). | 2019 | 31505665 |
| a qualitative study to understand how ebola virus disease affected nutrition in sierra leone-a food value-chain framework for improving future response strategies. | this study sought understand how the 2014-2016 evd virus disease (evd) outbreak impacted the nutrition sector in sierra leone and use findings for improving nutrition responses during future outbreaks of this magnitude. | 2019 | 31504036 |
| a versatile platform technology for recombinant vaccines using non-propagative human parainfluenza virus type 2 vector. | ectopic protein with proper steric structure was efficiently loaded onto the envelope of the f gene-defective bc-piv vector derived from human parainfluenza virus type 2 (hpiv2) by a reverse genetics method of recombinant virus production. further, ectopic antigenic peptide was successfully loaded either outside, inside, or at both sides of the envelope of the vector. the bc-piv vector harboring the ebola virus gp gene was able to elicit neutralizing antibodies in mice. in addition, bc-piv with ... | 2019 | 31501502 |
| peptide presentation by bat mhc class i provides new insight into the antiviral immunity of bats. | bats harbor many zoonotic viruses, including highly pathogenic viruses of humans and other mammals, but they are typically asymptomatic in bats. to further understand the antiviral immunity of bats, we screened and identified a series of bat major histocompatibility complex (mhc) i ptal-n*01:01-binding peptides derived from four different bat-borne viruses, i.e., hendra virus (hev), ebola virus (ebov), middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (mers-cov), and h17n10 influenza-like virus. the ... | 2019 | 31498797 |
| multilamellar vaccine particle elicits potent immune activation with protein antigens and protects mice against ebola virus infection. | recent outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases, such as ebola virus disease (evd), highlight the urgent need to develop effective countermeasures, including prophylactic vaccines. subunit proteins derived from pathogens provide a safe source of antigens for vaccination, but they are often limited by their low immunogenicity. we have developed a multilamellar vaccine particle (mvp) system composed of lipid-hyaluronic acid multi-cross-linked hybrid nanoparticles for vaccination with protein anti ... | 2019 | 31497947 |
| subsequent mortality in survivors of ebola virus disease in guinea: a nationwide retrospective cohort study. | a record number of people survived ebola virus infection in the 2013-16 outbreak in west africa, and the number of survivors has increased after subsequent outbreaks. a range of post-ebola sequelae have been reported in survivors, but little is known about subsequent mortality. we aimed to investigate subsequent mortality among people discharged from ebola treatment units. | 2019 | 31494017 |
| increased mortality in survivors of ebola virus disease. | 2019 | 31494016 | |
| the impact of infection prevention and control (ipc) bundle implementationon ipc compliance during the ebola virus outbreak in mbandaka/democratic republic of the congo: a before and after design. | to assess the impact of refresher training of healthcare workers (hcws) in infection prevention and control (ipc), ensuring consistent adequate supplies and availability of ipc kits and carrying out weekly monitoring of ipc performance in healthcare facilities (hcfs) design: this was a before and after comparison study settings: this study was conducted from june to july 2018 during an ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak in equateur province in the democratic republic of the congo (drc). | 2019 | 31492782 |
| new treatments for ebola virus disease. | 2019 | 31492688 | |
| differential requirements for fcγr engagement by protective antibodies against ebola virus. | ebola virus (ebov) continues to pose significant threats to global public health, requiring ongoing development of multiple strategies for disease control. to date, numerous monoclonal antibodies (mabs) that target the ebov glycoprotein (gp) have demonstrated potent protective activity in animal disease models and are thus promising candidates for the control of ebov. however, recent work in a variety of virus diseases has highlighted the importance of coupling fab neutralization with fc effecto ... | 2019 | 31484758 |
| evaluation of the performance of the national tuberculosis program of liberia during the 2014-2015 ebola outbreak. | liberia is among the three west african countries which were crippled by the ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak of 2014. one of the programs which was affected by the evd outbreak was the national leprosy and tuberculosis control program (nltcp). determining the magnitude of the impact of evd on the nltcp performance is crucial in restoring the service and in devising effective post evd strategies. the purpose of the study was to analyse the impact of evd outbreak on the performance of the nltcp ... | 2019 | 31484578 |
| the monetary value of human lives lost through ebola virus disease in the democratic republic of congo in 2019. | between 8 may 2018 and 27 may 2019, cumulatively there were 1286 deaths from ebola virus disease (evd) in the democratic republic of congo (drc). the objective of this study was to estimate the monetary value of human lives lost through evd in drc. | 2019 | 31481050 |
| probing the effects of pyrimidine functional group switches on acyclic fleximer analogues for antiviral activity. | due to their ability to inhibit viral dna or rna replication, nucleoside analogues have been used for decades as potent antiviral therapeutics. however, one of the major limitations of nucleoside analogues is the development of antiviral resistance. in that regard, flexible nucleoside analogues known as "fleximers" have garnered attention over the years due to their ability to survey different amino acids in enzyme binding sites, thus overcoming the potential development of antiviral resistance. ... | 2019 | 31480658 |
| cholesterol-conjugated stapled peptides inhibit ebola and marburg viruses in vitro and in vivo. | filoviridae currently includes five official and one proposed genera. genus ebolavirus includes five established and one proposed ebolavirus species for bombali virus (bomv), bundibugyo virus (bdbv), ebola virus (ebov), reston virus (restv), sudan virus (sudv) and taï forest virus (tafv), and genus marburgvirus includes a single species for marburg virus (marv) and ravn virus (ravv). ebola virus (ebov) has emerged as a significant public health concern since the 2013-2016 ebola virus disease out ... | 2019 | 31473342 |
| ebola virus disease and breastfeeding: time for attention. | 2019 | 31470987 | |
| ebola virus: a global public health menace: a narrative review. | ebola virus disease (evd), a fatal viral hemorrhagic illness, is due to infection with the ebola virus of the filoviridae family. the disease has evolved as a global public health menace due to a large immigrant population. initially, the patients present with nonspecific influenza-like symptoms and eventually terminate into shock and multiorgan failure. there exists no specific treatment protocol for evd and only supportive and symptomatic therapy is the line of treatment. this review article p ... | 2019 | 31463229 |
| scalable, semi-automated fluorescence reduction neutralization assay for qualitative assessment of ebola virus-neutralizing antibodies in human clinical samples. | antibody titers against a viral pathogen are typically measured using an antigen binding assay, such as an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa), which only measures the ability of antibodies to identify a viral antigen of interest. neutralization assays measure the presence of virus-neutralizing antibodies in a sample. traditional neutralization assays, such as the plaque reduction neutralization test (prnt), are often difficult to use on a large scale due to being both labor and resource i ... | 2019 | 31454374 |
| pulmonary involvement during the ebola virus disease. | filoviruses have become a worldwide public health concern, especially during the 2013-2016 western africa ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak-the largest outbreak, both by number of cases and geographical extension, recorded so far in medical history. evd is associated with pathologies in several organs, including the liver, kidney, and lung. during the 2013-2016 western africa outbreak, ebola virus (ebov) was detected in the lung of infected patients suggesting a role in lung pathogenesis. howev ... | 2019 | 31450596 |
| ebola virus disease outbreak in liberia: application of lessons learnt to disease surveillance and control. | 2020 | 31448046 | |
| advances in vaccines. | vaccines represent one of the most important advances in science and medicine, helping people around the world in preventing the spread of infectious diseases. however, there are still gaps in vaccination programs in many countries. out of 11.2 million children born in eu region, more than 500,000 infants did not receive the complete three-dose series of diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus vaccine before the first birthday. data shows that there were more than 30,000 measles cases in the european ... | 2019 | 31446443 |
| principles and practices of establishing a hospital-based ebola treatment unit. | outbreaks of ebola virus disease and high-risk transmissible infections are increasing and pose threats to health care workers and global health systems. previous outbreaks offer lessons for health system preparedness and response, including establishment of hospital-based high-risk pathogen treatment units. their creation demands early preparation and interprofessional coordination; infection prevention and control; case management training; prepositioning of supplies; conversion of existing st ... | 2019 | 31445614 |
| a methodology for determining which diseases warrant care in a high-level containment care unit. | although the concept of high-level containment care (hlcc or 'biocontainment'), dates back to 1969, the 2014-2016 outbreak of ebola virus disease (evd) brought with it a renewed emphasis on the use of specialized hlcc units in the care of patients with evd. employment of these units in the united states and western europe resulted in a significant decrease in mortality compared to traditional management in field settings. moreover, this employment appeared to significantly lessen the risk of nos ... | 2019 | 31443440 |
| marginalisation, ebola and health for all: from outbreak to lessons learned. | the ebola epidemic in west africa between 2014 and 2015 was the deadliest since the discovery of the virus four decades ago. with the second-largest outbreak of ebola virus disease currently raging in the democratic republic of the congo, (drc) it is clear that lessons from the past can be quickly forgotten-or be incomplete in the first instance. in this article, we seek to understand the health challenges facing marginalised people by elaborating on the multiple dimensions of marginalisation in ... | 2019 | 31438546 |
| l-like 3-deazaneplanocin analogues: synthesis and antiviral properties. | the potent antiviral properties of 3-deazaneplanocin, 3-deaza-isoneplanocins (1) and recently discovered l-like carbocyclic nucleosides (2, 3 and 4) prompted us to pursue rationally conceived l-like 3-deazaneplanocin analogues. the synthesis of those analogues including l-like 3-deazaneplanocin (5), l-like 3-bromo-3-deazaneplanocin (6), and l-like 5'-fluoro-5'-deoxy-3-deazaneplanocin (7), was accomplished from a common intermediate, (-)-cyclopentenone (8). antiviral analysis found 5 and 6 to dis ... | 2019 | 31431358 |
| [four years after the ebola crisis : challenges, experiences, and implications in the german public health context]. | the ebola virus disease outbreak in west africa in 2014/2015 was by far the biggest, most prolonged, and geographically most widespread outbreak of this disease since the discovery of the ebola virus in 1976. although no cases of ebola virus disease were confirmed in germany, a number of crisis management activities were initiated.based on a combination of local, national, and international lessons learned, literature research, and a large number of discussions among german colleagues as well as ... | 2019 | 31428830 |
| inferring time-dependent migration and coalescence patterns from genetic sequence and predictor data in structured populations. | population dynamics can be inferred from genetic sequence data by using phylodynamic methods. these methods typically quantify the dynamics in unstructured populations or assume migration rates and effective population sizes to be constant through time in structured populations. when considering rates to vary through time in structured populations, the number of parameters to infer increases rapidly and the available data might not be sufficient to inform these. additionally, it is often of inte ... | 2019 | 31428459 |
| hand hygiene practices in the context of ebola virus disease: a cross-sectional survey of lagos residents. | the ebola virus disease outbreak that ravaged parts of west africa has been described as the most severe acute public health emergency seen in modern times. hand washing was promoted among other measures for infection prevention. | 2019 | 31428198 |
| public health management of persons under investigation for ebola virus disease in new york city, 2014-2016. | during 2014-2016, the largest outbreak of ebola virus disease (evd) in history occurred in west africa. the new york city department of health and mental hygiene (dohmh) worked with health care providers to prepare for persons under investigation (puis) for evd in new york city. from july 1, 2014, through december 29, 2015, we classified as a pui a person with evd-compatible signs or symptoms and an epidemiologic risk factor within 21 days before illness onset. of 112 persons who met pui criteri ... | 2020 | 31424330 |
| [the ebola virus disease outbreak in west africa in 2014/2015: important data and political events]. | in 2014/2015 west africa suffered an ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak of unprecedented unknown severity. the outbreak affected mostly liberia, sierra leone and guinea, and for the first time spread to major cities, some of which have international airports. worldwide, 28,652 cases were registered, 11,325 of which were fatal. a few cases were confirmed outside the main outbreak countries. three evd patients and one person with a needle-stick injury were evacuated to germany and treated or kept ... | 2019 | 31420718 |
| ebola virus outbreak in north kivu and ituri provinces, democratic republic of congo, and the potential for further transmission through commercial air travel. | the 2018-2019 ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak in north kivu and ituri provinces, democratic republic of congo (drc), continues to spread. the recent discovery of cases in uganda and in goma, a major city in the eastern drc, raises concern for potential evd transmission in distant locales via commercial air travel. | 2019 | 31414699 |
| coupling adaptive molecular evolution to phylodynamics using fitness-dependent birth-death models. | beneficial and deleterious mutations cause the fitness of lineages to vary across a phylogeny and thereby shape its branching structure. while standard phylogenetic models do not allow mutations to feedback and shape trees, birth-death models can account for this feedback by letting the fitness of lineages depend on their type. to date, these multi-type birth-death models have only been applied to cases where a lineage's fitness is determined by a single character state. we extend these models t ... | 2019 | 31411558 |
| core minimal datasets to advance clinical research for priority epidemic diseases. | the ebola virus disease outbreak in west africa has prompted significant progress in responding to the clinical needs of patients affected by emerging infectious disease outbreaks. among the noteworthy successes of vaccine trials, and the commendable efforts to implement clinical treatment trials during ebola outbreaks, we should also focus on strengthening the collection and curation of epidemiological and observational data that can improve the conception and design of clinical research. | 2020 | 31406989 |
| "for this one, let me take the risk": why surgical staff continued to perform caesarean sections during the 2014-2016 ebola epidemic in sierra leone. | routine health service provision decreased during the 2014-2016 ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak in sierra leone, while caesarean section (cs) rates at public hospitals did not. it is unknown what made staff provide cs despite the risks of contracting evd. this study explores sierra leonean health worker perspectives of why they continued to provide cs. | 2019 | 31406584 |
| enhancing laboratory capacity during ebola virus disease (evd) heightened surveillance in liberia: lessons learned and recommendations. | following a declaration by the world health organization that liberia had successfully interrupted ebola virus transmission on may 9th, 2015; the country entered a period of enhanced surveillance. the number of cases had significantly reduced prior to the declaration, leading to closure of eight out of eleven ebola testing laboratories. enhanced surveillance led to an abrupt increase in demand for laboratory services. we report interventions, achievements, lessons learned and recommendations dra ... | 2019 | 31404295 |
| the implementation of integrated disease surveillance and response in liberia after ebola virus disease outbreak 2015-2017. | although liberia adapted the integrated diseases surveillance and response (idsr) in 2004 as a platform for implementation of international health regulation (ihr (2005)), idsr was not actively implemented until 2015. some innovations and best practices were observed during the implementation of idsr in liberia after ebola virus disease outbreak. this paper describes the different approaches used for implementation of idsr in liberia from 2015 to 2017. | 2019 | 31404272 |
| strengthening healthcare workforce capacity during and post ebola outbreaks in liberia: an innovative and effective approach to epidemic preparedness and response. | the 2014-2016 ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak in liberia highlighted the importance of robust preparedness measures for a well-coordinated response; the initially delayed response contributed to the steep incidence of cases, infections among health care workers, and a collapse of the health care system. to strengthen local capacity and combat disease transmission, various healthcare worker (hcw) trainings, including the ebola treatment unit (etu) training, safe & quality services (sqs) traini ... | 2019 | 31402967 |
| strengthening immunization service delivery post ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak in liberia 2015-2017. | the ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak in liberia from 2014-2015 setback the already fragile health system which was recovering from the effects of civil unrest. this led to significant decline in immunization coverage and key polio free certification indicators. the liberia investment plan was developed to restore immunization service delivery and overall health system. | 2019 | 31402965 |
| risk communication during disease outbreak response in post-ebola liberia: experiences in sinoe and grand kru counties. | lessons learned from the ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak enabled liberia to develop a health plan for strengthening public health capacity against potential public health threats. risk communication is one of the core pillars that provide life-saving information and knowledge for the public to take preventive and proactive actions against public health threats. these were applied in response to the post-ebola meningococcal septicemia and meningitis outbreaks in sinoe and grand kru counties. t ... | 2019 | 31402964 |
| strengthening acute flaccid paralysis surveillance post ebola virus disease outbreak 2015 - 2017: the liberia experience. | liberia remains at high risk of poliovirus outbreaks due to importation. the country maintained certification level acute flaccid paralysis (afp) surveillance indicators each year until 2014 due to ebola outbreak. during this time, there was a significant drop in non-polio afp rate to (1.2/100,000 population under 15 years) in 2015 from 2.9/100, 000 population in 2013, due to a variety of reasons including suspension on shipment of acute flaccid paralysis stool specimen to the polio regional lab ... | 2019 | 31402963 |
| the fda-approved oral drug nitazoxanide amplifies host antiviral responses and inhibits ebola virus. | here, we show that the us food and drug administration-approved oral drug nitazoxanide (ntz) broadly amplifies the host innate immune response to viruses and inhibits ebola virus (ebov) replication. we find that ntz enhances retinoic-acid-inducible protein i (rig-i)-like-receptor, mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein, interferon regulatory factor 3, and interferon activities and induces transcription of the antiviral phosphatase gadd34. ntz significantly inhibits ebov replication in human c ... | 2019 | 31402258 |
| long-term wildlife mortality surveillance in northern congo: a model for the detection of ebola virus disease epizootics. | ebolavirus (ebov) has caused disease outbreaks taking thousands of lives, costing billions of dollars in control efforts and threatening great ape populations. ebov ecology is not fully understood but infected wildlife and consumption of animal carcasses have been linked to human outbreaks, especially in the congo basin. partnering with the congolese ministry of health, we conducted wildlife mortality surveillance and educational outreach in the northern republic of congo (roc). designed for ebo ... | 2019 | 31401969 |
| cross-species pathogen spillover across ecosystem boundaries: mechanisms and theory. | pathogen spillover between different host species is the trigger for many infectious disease outbreaks and emergence events, and ecosystem boundary areas have been suggested as spatial hotspots of spillover. this hypothesis is largely based on suspected higher rates of zoonotic disease spillover and emergence in fragmented landscapes and other areas where humans live in close vicinity to wildlife. for example, ebola virus outbreaks have been linked to contacts between humans and infected wildlif ... | 2019 | 31401953 |
| acute vector-borne viral infection: zika and minion surveillance. | the minion sequencer was launched by the oxford nanopore technologies start-up as a disruptive technology for genome sequencing based on single-molecule synthesis. its characteristics as a portable device, low cost, and simple library preparation have made it a good candidate for field researchers. minion has been used to sequence a number of microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. based on the experience that characterized the ebola virus genetic diversity in guinea during the 201 ... | 2019 | 31400093 |
| metagenomic next-generation sequencing aids the diagnosis of viral infections in febrile returning travellers. | travel-associated infections are challenging to diagnose because of the broad spectrum of potential aetiologies. as a proof-of-principle study, we used mngs to identify viral pathogens in clinical samples from returning travellers in a single center to explore its suitability as a diagnostic tool. | 2019 | 31398374 |
| real-time predictions of the 2018-2019 ebola virus disease outbreak in the democratic republic of the congo using hawkes point process models. | as of june 16, 2019, an ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak has led to 2136 reported cases in the northeastern region of the democratic republic of the congo (drc). as this outbreak continues to threaten the lives and livelihoods of people already suffering from civil strife and armed conflict, relatively simple mathematical models and their short-term predictions have the potential to inform ebola response efforts in real time. we applied recently developed non-parametrically estimated hawkes po ... | 2019 | 31395373 |
| new nucleoside analogues for the treatment of hemorrhagic fever virus infections. | eight different compounds, all nucleoside analogues, could presently be considered as potential drug candidates for the treatment of ebola virus (ebov) and/or other hemorrhagic fever virus (hfv) infections. they can be considered as either (i) adenine analogues (3-deazaneplanocin a, galidesivir, gs-6620 and remdesivir) or (ii) guanine analogues containing the carboxamide entity (ribavirin, eicar, pyrazofurin and favipiravir). all eight owe their mechanism of action to hydrogen bonded base pairin ... | 2019 | 31389664 |
| rvsvδg-zebov-gp (also designated v920) recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus pseudotyped with ebola zaire glycoprotein: standardized template with key considerations for a risk/benefit assessment. | the brighton collaboration viral vector vaccines safety working group (v3swg) was formed to evaluate the safety and characteristics of live, recombinant viral vector vaccines. a recent publication by the v3swg described live, attenuated, recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rvsv) as a chimeric virus vaccine for hiv-1 (clarke et al., 2016). the rvsv vector system is being explored as a platform for development of multiple vaccines. this paper reviews the molecular and biological features of th ... | 2019 | 31384731 |
| health workforce development and retention in guinea: a policy analysis post-ebola. | the state of the guinean health workforce is one of the country's bottlenecks in advancing health outcomes. the impact of the 2014-2015 ebola virus disease outbreak and resulting international attention has provided a policy window to invest in the workforce and reform the health system. this research constitutes a baseline study on the health workforce situation, professional education, and retention policies in guinea. the study was conducted to inform capacity development as part of a scienti ... | 2019 | 31382972 |
| projections of epidemic transmission and estimation of vaccination impact during an ongoing ebola virus disease outbreak in northeastern democratic republic of congo, as of feb. 25, 2019. | as of february 25, 2019, 875 cases of ebola virus disease (evd) were reported in north kivu and ituri provinces, democratic republic of congo. since the beginning of october 2018, the outbreak has largely shifted into regions in which active armed conflict has occurred, and in which evd cases and their contacts have been difficult for health workers to reach. we used available data on the current outbreak, with case-count time series from prior outbreaks, to project the short-term and long-term ... | 2019 | 31381606 |
| estimating the impact of violent events on transmission in ebola virus disease outbreak, democratic republic of the congo, 2018-2019. | as of april 2019, the current ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak in the democratic republic of the congo (drc) is occurring in a longstanding conflict zone and has become the second largest evd outbreak in history. it is suspected that after violent events occur, evd transmission will increase; however, empirical studies to understand the impact of violence on transmission are lacking. here, we use spatial and temporal trends of evd case counts to compare transmission rates between health zones ... | 2019 | 31378584 |
| inactivated rabies virus-based ebola vaccine preserved by vaporization is heat-stable and immunogenic against ebola and protects against rabies challenge. | ebola virus (ebov) is a highly lethal member of the filoviridae family associated with human hemorrhagic disease. despite being a sporadic disease, it caused a large outbreak in 2014-2016 in west africa and another outbreak recently in the democratic republic of congo. several vaccine candidates are currently in preclinical and clinical studies but none are stable without cold chain storage. | 2019 | 31374568 |
| serological analysis of ebola virus survivors and close contacts in sierra leone: a cross-sectional study. | the 2013-2016 ebola virus outbreak in west africa was the largest and deadliest outbreak to date. here we conducted a serological study to examine the antibody levels in survivors and the seroconversion in close contacts who took care of ebola-infected individuals, but did not develop symptoms of ebola virus disease. in march 2017, we collected blood samples from 481 individuals in makeni, sierra leone: 214 survivors and 267 close contacts. using commercial, quantitative elisas, we tested the pl ... | 2019 | 31369554 |
| recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus vector vaccines for who blueprint priority pathogens. | the devastating ebola virus (ebov) outbreak in west africa in 2013-2016 has flagged the need for the timely development of vaccines for high-threat pathogens. to be better prepared for new epidemics, the who has compiled a list of priority pathogens that are likely to cause future outbreaks and for which r&d efforts are, therefore, paramount (r&d blueprint: https://www.who.int/blueprint/priority-diseases/en/ ). to this end, the detailed characterization of vaccine platforms is needed. the vesicu ... | 2019 | 31368826 |
| science under fire: ebola researchers fight to test drugs and vaccines in a war zone. | 2019 | 31363193 | |
| inhibition of ebola virus by a molecularly engineered banana lectin. | ebolaviruses cause an often rapidly fatal syndrome known as ebola virus disease (evd), with average case fatality rates of ~50%. there is no licensed vaccine or treatment for evd, underscoring the urgent need to develop new anti-ebolavirus agents, especially in the face of an ongoing outbreak in the democratic republic of the congo and the largest ever outbreak in western africa in 2013-2016. lectins have been investigated as potential antiviral agents as they bind glycans present on viral surfa ... | 2019 | 31356611 |
| non-communicable diseases in the western area district, sierra leone, following the ebola outbreak. | background: non-communicable diseases (ncds) are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. during infectious disease outbreaks, such as the ebola virus disease outbreak in west africa from 2014-2015, the health system is often strained, and diagnosis, management and care of ncds may be compromised. this study assessed numbers and distribution of ncds in all health facilities in the western-area district, sierra leone, in the post-ebola period (june-december 2015) comparing find ... | 2019 | 31354948 |
| polyphenylene carboxymethylene (ppcm) in vitro antiviral efficacy against ebola virus in the context of a sexually transmitted infection. | ebola virus disease (evd) is caused by ebola virus (ebov) and characterized in humans by hemorrhagic fever with high fatality rates. human-to-human ebov transmission occurs by physical contact with infected body fluids, or indirectly by contaminated surfaces. sexual transmission is a route of infection only recently documented despite isolating ebov virus or genome in the semen since 1976. data on dissemination of ebov from survivors remain limited and ebov pathogenesis in humans following sexua ... | 2019 | 31351092 |
| fda-argos is a database with public quality-controlled reference genomes for diagnostic use and regulatory science. | fda proactively invests in tools to support innovation of emerging technologies, such as infectious disease next generation sequencing (id-ngs). here, we introduce fda-argos quality-controlled reference genomes as a public database for diagnostic purposes and demonstrate its utility on the example of two use cases. we provide quality control metrics for the fda-argos genomic database resource and outline the need for genome quality gap filling in the public domain. in the first use case, we show ... | 2019 | 31346170 |
| evaluation of diagnostic performance of three indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for the detection of igg antibodies to ebola virus in human sera. | filovirus serological diagnosis and epidemiological investigations are hampered due to the unavailability of validated immunoassays. diagnostic performance of three indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (i-elisa) was evaluated for the detection of igg antibody to ebola virus (ebov) in human sera. one i-elisa was based on a whole ebov antigen (wag) and two utilized recombinant nucleocapsid (np) and glycoproteins (gp), respectively. validation data sets derived from individual sera collected ... | 2019 | 31344850 |
| therapeutic strategies to target the ebola virus life cycle. | following the ebola virus disease epidemic in west africa, there has been increased awareness of the need for improved therapies for emerging diseases, including viral haemorrhagic fevers such as those caused by ebola virus and other filoviruses. our continually improving understanding of the virus life cycle coupled with the increased availability of 'omics' analyses and high-throughput screening technologies has enhanced our ability to identify potential viral and host factors and aspects invo ... | 2019 | 31341272 |
| chimpanzee adenoviral vector prime-boost regimen elicits potent immune responses against ebola virus in mice and rhesus macaques. | in the last few decades, ebola virus (ebov) has emerged periodically and infected people in africa, resulting in an extremely high mortality rate. with no available prophylaxis or cure so far, a highly effective ebola vaccine is urgently needed. in this study, we developed a novel chimpanzee adenovirus-based prime-boost vaccine by exploiting two recombinant replication-deficient chimpanzee adenoviral vectors, adc7 and adc68, which express glycoproteins (gp) of the ebov strain identified in the 2 ... | 2019 | 31339465 |
| sudan ebolavirus vp35-np crystal structure reveals a potential target for pan-filovirus treatment. | the filoviruses are etiological agents of life-threatening hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rate and risk of potential outbreak. among members of this family, the ebola (ebov), sudan (sudv), and marburg (marv) viruses are considered the most pathogenic for humans. the ebolavirus nucleoprotein (np) is the most abundant protein in infected cells and is essential for viral transcription and replication; thus, it represents an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. here, we present the ... | 2019 | 31337716 |
| a review of hearing loss associated with zika, ebola, and lassa fever. | the neglected tropical diseases zika, ebola, and lassa fever (lf) have all been noted to cause some degree of hearing loss (hl). hearing loss is a chronic disability that can lead to a variety of detrimental effects, including speech and language delays in children, decreased economic productivity in adults, and accelerated cognitive decline in older adults. the objective of this review is to summarize what is known regarding hl secondary to these viruses. literature for this review was gathered ... | 2019 | 31333155 |
| serological evidence of ebola virus exposure in dogs from affected communities in liberia: a preliminary report. | filoviruses such as ebola virus (ebov) cause outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers for which no fda-approved vaccines or drugs are available. the 2014-2016 ebov outbreak in west africa infected approximately 30,000 people, killing more than 11,000 and affecting thousands more in areas still suffering from the effects of civil wars. sierra leone and liberia reported ebov cases in every county demonstrating the efficient spread of this highly contagious virus in the well-connected societies of wes ... | 2019 | 31329600 |
| recombinant subunit vaccines protect guinea pigs from lethal ebola virus challenge. | ebola virus (ebov) is among the deadliest pathogens known to man causing infrequent outbreaks of hemorrhagic disease. in humans, the case fatality rates in the outbreaks can reach 90%. during the west african epidemic almost 30,000 people were infected and of these over 11,000 fatalities were reported. currently, we are facing an uncontained larger outbreak in the democratic republic of the congo. even though ebov was discovered in 1976, extensive efforts to develop countermeasures, particularly ... | 2019 | 31324500 |
| metagenomic next-generation sequencing of the 2014 ebola virus disease outbreak in the democratic republic of the congo. | we applied metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mngs) to detect zaire ebola virus (ebov) and other potential pathogens from whole-blood samples from 70 patients with suspected ebola hemorrhagic fever during a 2014 outbreak in boende, democratic republic of the congo (drc) and correlated these findings with clinical symptoms. twenty of 31 patients (64.5%) tested in kinshasa, drc, were ebov positive by quantitative reverse transcriptase pcr (qrt-pcr). despite partial degradation of sample rna d ... | 2019 | 31315955 |
| machine-learning prognostic models from the 2014-16 ebola outbreak: data-harmonization challenges, validation strategies, and mhealth applications. | ebola virus disease (evd) plagues low-resource and difficult-to-access settings. machine learning prognostic models and mhealth tools could improve the understanding and use of evidence-based care guidelines in such settings. however, data incompleteness and lack of interoperability limit model generalizability. this study harmonizes diverse datasets from the 2014-16 evd epidemic and generates several prognostic models incorporated into the novel ebola care guidelines app that provides informed ... | 2020 | 31312805 |
| progress in elucidating potential markers and mechanisms of rapid protection conferred by the vsv-vectored ebola virus vaccine. | research progress over the past 20 years has yielded several experimental ebola virus (ebov) vaccine candidates, which were shown to be effective in nonhuman primates when given 28 days before a lethal challenge. of these, the vesicular stomatitis virus (vsv)-vectored vaccine against ebov (vsv-ebov) is unique at being able to induce rapid protection, with 100% survival achieved as soon as 7 days after ebov challenge. in a recent mbio article, menicucci et al. carried out a transcriptome analysis ... | 2019 | 31311887 |
| haemostatic changes in five patients infected with ebola virus. | knowledge on haemostatic changes in humans infected with ebola virus is limited due to safety concerns and access to patient samples. ethical approval was obtained to collect plasma samples from patients in sierra leone infected with ebola virus over time and samples were analysed for clotting time, fibrinogen, and d-dimer levels. plasma from healthy volunteers was also collected by two methods to determine effect of centrifugation on test results as blood collected in sierra leone was not centr ... | 2019 | 31311112 |
| bombali virus in mops condylurus bats, guinea. | in 2018, a previously unknown ebola virus, bombali virus, was discovered in sierra leone. we describe detection of bombali virus in guinea. we found viral rna in internal organs of 3 angolan free-tailed bats (mops condylurus) trapped in the city of n'zerekore and in a nearby village. | 2019 | 31310231 |
| repurposing quinacrine against ebola virus infection in vivo. | quinacrine hydrochloride is a small-molecule, orally bioavailable drug that has been used clinically as an antimalarial and for many other applications. a machine learning model trained on ebola virus (ebov) screening data identified quinacrine as a potent (nanomolar) in vitro inhibitor. in the current study, quinacrine 25 mg/kg was shown to protect 70% of mice (statistically significant) from a lethal challenge with mouse-adapted ebov with once-daily intraperitoneal dosing for 8 days. | 2019 | 31307979 |
| survivors of ebola virus disease develop polyfunctional antibody responses. | monoclonal antibodies can mediate protection against ebola virus (ebov) infection through direct neutralization as well as through the recruitment of innate immune effector functions. however, the antibody functional response following survival of acute ebov disease has not been well characterized. in this study, serum antibodies from ebola virus disease (evd) survivors from sierra leone were profiled to capture variation in overall subclass/isotype abundance, neutralizing activity, and innate i ... | 2020 | 31301137 |
| characterisation of infectious ebola virus from the ongoing outbreak to guide response activities in the democratic republic of the congo: a phylogenetic and in vitro analysis. | the ongoing ebola virus outbreak in the ituri and north kivu provinces of the democratic republic of the congo, which began in july, 2018, is the second largest ever recorded. despite civil unrest, outbreak control measures and the administration of experimental therapies and a vaccine have been initiated. the aim of this study was to test the efficacy of candidate therapies and diagnostic tests with the outbreak strain ituri ebola virus. lacking a virus isolate from this outbreak, a recombinant ... | 2019 | 31300330 |
| utilization of maternity waiting homes: before, during, and after the ebola virus disease outbreak in bong county, liberia. | maternity waiting homes (mwhs) are used to increase the number of women delivering at health care facilities. the first mwhs in liberia were opened in 2012, prior to the ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak. | 2020 | 31294786 |
| detection of crimean-congo haemorrhagic fever cases in a severe undifferentiated febrile illness outbreak in the federal republic of sudan: a retrospective epidemiological and diagnostic cohort study. | undifferentiated febrile illness (ufi) is one of the most common reasons for people seeking healthcare in low-income countries. while illness and death due to specific infections such as malaria are often well-quantified, others are frequently uncounted and their impact underappreciated. a number of high consequence infectious diseases, including ebola virus, are endemic or epidemic in the federal republic of sudan which has experienced at least 12 ufi outbreaks, frequently associated with haemo ... | 2019 | 31291242 |
| to contain ebola, the united states must fulfil its promise to the world health organization. | 2019 | 31289405 | |
| a hyperstabilizing mutation in the base of the ebola virus glycoprotein acts at multiple steps to abrogate viral entry. | ebola virus (ebov) causes highly lethal disease outbreaks against which no fda-approved countermeasures are available. although many host factors exploited by ebov for cell entry have been identified, including host cell surface phosphatidylserine receptors, endosomal cysteine proteases, and the lysosomal cholesterol trafficking protein npc1, key questions remain. specifically, late entry steps culminating in viral membrane fusion remain enigmatic. here, we investigated a set of glycoprotein (gp ... | 2019 | 31289183 |
| a systematic review and meta-analysis of patient data from the west africa (2013-16) ebola virus disease epidemic. | over 28 000 individuals were infected with ebola virus during the west africa (2013-2016) epidemic, yet there has been criticism of the lack of robust clinical descriptions of ebola virus disease (evd) illness from that outbreak. | 2019 | 31284032 |
| experience of chicagoland acute care hospitals in preparing for ebola virus disease, 2014-2015. | during the 2014-2015 ebola virus disease (evd) outbreak, hospitals in the united states selected personal protective equipment (ppe) and trained healthcare personnel (hcp) in anticipation of receiving evd patients. to improve future preparations for high-consequence infectious diseases, it was important to understand factors that affected ppe selection and training in the context of the evd outbreak. semistructured interviews were conducted with hcp involved with decision-making during evd prepa ... | 2019 | 31283428 |
| effect of mass artesunate-amodiaquine distribution on mortality of patients with ebola virus disease during west african outbreak. | experiments in vitro have shown that the drug amodiaquine may inhibit ebola virus activity. during the ebola virus disease (evd) epidemic in west africa in 2014-2016, 2 mass drug administrations (mdas) of artesunate-amodiaquine (asaq) were implemented to decrease the burden of malaria. the objective of this study was to assess the effect of the asaq mdas on the mortality of patients with evd. | 2019 | 31281856 |
| an exploration of conditions proposed to trigger the ebola virus glycoprotein for fusion. | ebolaviruses continue to inflict horrific disease and instill fear. the 2013-2016 outbreak in western africa caused unfathomable morbidity and mortality (over 11,000 deaths), and the second largest outbreak is on-going in the democratic republic of the congo. the first stage of an ebolavirus infection is entry, culminating in delivery of the viral genome into the cytoplasm to initiate replication. among enveloped viruses, ebolaviruses use a complex entry pathway: they bind to attachment factors ... | 2019 | 31276481 |
| effects of vaccines in protecting against ebola virus disease: protocol for a systematic review. | ebola virus disease is one of the most devastating infectious diseases in the world with up to 90% case fatality observed. there are at least 13 candidate vaccines developed and being tested to prevent the occurrence of the ebola virus disease. while none of these candidate vaccines has received regulatory approval for use, one candidate vaccine (rvsvδg-zebov-gp) has been granted access for emergency use. two other candidate vaccines (gamevac-combi and ad5-ebov) have been licensed for emergency ... | 2019 | 31272985 |
| vitamin a supplementation was associated with reduced mortality in patients with ebola virus disease during the west african outbreak. | micronutrient supplementation is recommended in ebola virus disease (evd); however, there are limited data on therapeutic impacts of specific micronutrients. | 2019 | 31268140 |
| data fitting and scenario analysis of vaccination in the 2014 ebola outbreak in liberia. | this study aimed to extend an epidemiological model (seihfr) to analyze epidemic trends, and evaluate intervention efficacy. | 2019 | 31263668 |
| creation of a national infection prevention and control programme in sierra leone, 2015. | prior to the 2014-2016 ebola epidemic, sierra leone's ministry of health and sanitation had no infection prevention and control programme. high rates of ebola virus disease transmission in healthcare facilities underscored the need for infection prevention and control in the healthcare system. the ministry of health and sanitation led an effort among international partners to rapidly stand up a national infection prevention and control programme to decrease ebola transmission in healthcare facil ... | 2019 | 31263590 |
| defining the multiplicity and time of infection for the production of zaire ebola virus-like particles in the insect cell-baculovirus expression system. | the ebola virus disease is a public health challenge. to date, the only available treatments are medical support or the emergency administration of experimental drugs. the absence of licensed vaccines against ebola virus impedes the prevention of infection. vaccines based on recombinant virus-like particles (vlp) are a promising alternative. the zaire ebola virus serotype (zebov) is the most aggressive with the highest mortality rates. production of zebov-vlp has been accomplished in mammalian a ... | 2019 | 31262589 |