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Journal of
eISSN: 2373-6453

Human Virology & Retrovirology

Editorial Volume 1 Issue 4

Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Western African Countries: 2014

Attapon Cheepsattayakorn,1,2 Ruangrong Cheepsattayakorn3

110th Zonal Tuberculosis and Chest Disease Center, Department of Disease Control, Thailand
2Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
3Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand

Correspondence: Attapon Cheepsattayakorn, 10th Zonal Tuberculosis and Chest Disease Center, 143 Sridornchai Road Changklan Muang Chiang Mai 50100 Thailand, Tel 66-53-276364

Received: October 29, 2014 | Published: October 31, 2014

Citation: Cheepsattayakorn A, Cheepsattayakorn R (2014) Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Western African Countries: 2014. J Hum Virol Retrovirol 1(4): 00022. DOI: 10.15406/jhvrv.2014.01.00022

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Editorial

Multiple western African countries are currently affected by the 2014 Ebola virus disease, the largest in the history. A single case was reported in Senegal, whereas a small number of cases were reported in Nigeria, nevertheless, these cases are considered to be contained, with no spread in these countries. The lines on the tabular situation reports, sent to the World Health Organization (WHO) each day by its country office in Nigeria, have presently been full of zeros for 42 days, thus, Nigeria is currently free of Ebola virus transmission. In the United States, two imported cases, two locally acquired cases in healthcare workers, including one death have been reported. Healthcare providers should evaluate the patient’s epidemiological risks, including a history of travel to a country with widespread Ebola virus transmission or contact with an individual with symptomatic Ebola virus disease within the previous 21 days. In case of considering diagnosis of Ebola virus infection or disease, the patient should be isolated in a single room with a private bathroom, and the standard, contact, and droplet precautions, including the proper personal protective equipment should be followed. In case of suspicion of Ebola virus infection or disease, the infection control personnel, and the local or state health department should be immediately contacted for consultation and to evaluate whether Ebola virus infection or disease testing is indicated and the need for initiating identification of the contacts. During investigation of a confirmed case of Ebola virus infection or disease, for each potentially exposed person, both clinical presentation and the level of exposure should be taken into account when determining the proper public health actions, including the active (or direct active) monitoring, the application of movement restrictions, and the need for medical evaluation when indicated. No identifiable risk includes contact with an asymptomatic individual who had contact with individual Ebola, contact with a individual with Ebola before the individual developed symptoms, having been more than 21 days previously in a country with widespread Ebola virus transmission, and having been in a country without widespread Ebola virus transmission and not having any other exposures as defined above. Human Ebola virus spreading is associated with direct contact with infected individuals or the bodies of the Ebola virus disease died individuals and direct contact with body fluids from the patients. Although hypothetical concerns about Ebola virus disease-airborne transmission have been raised, airborne transmission of this disease among humans has never been identified in the investigations that have described human-to-human transmission. ZMapp, an experimental drug composed of three humanized monoclonal antibodies, has been administered to two Americans and one European diagnosed with Ebola virus infection or disease since July 31, 2014. ZMapp were the first isolated from mice that were exposed to Ebola virus. Another Ebola vaccine (preventive drugs) is currently in development that contains an attenuated live virus, vesicular stomatitis virus, a common livestock pathogen, into which Ebola viral coat protein has been introduced.

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©2014 Cheepsattayakorn, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.