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November 30th, 2007, 10:05 AM
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Ebola in Uganda: November 30 - December 17, 2007
WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
November 30 2007 at 04:24PM
Geneva - The World Health Organisation expressed concern on Friday about the emergence of a new strain of the Ebola virus that has infected 51 people and killed 16 in western Uganda.
The outbreak, announced by US and Ugandan health officials on Thursday, is in Bundibugyo, near the border with Democratic Republic of Congo.
Genetic analysis of samples taken from some of the victims shows it is a previously unknown type of Ebola, making it the fifth strain, they said.
"We do not yet know yet exactly the lethality of this virus because we haven't tested all the samples," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told a news briefing in Geneva.
"But, obviously, anytime we're looking at Ebola and a new strain of Ebola, this presents a new challenge. So we're very concerned."
Ebola is a haemorrhagic fever, meaning it can cause internal and external bleeding. Victims often die of shock but symptoms can be vague, including fever, muscle pain and nausea.
It is known to infect humans, chimpanzees and gorillas.
Ugandan health officials have said the new strain appears to be relatively mild, but Dr Tom Ksiazek of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it was not yet clear whether this was the case. He said experts need to check to see how many diagnosed patients are still alive.
Patients with the new strain showed some clinical symptoms, including vomiting, that differed from the usual ones, Hartl said.
"We are very concerned about this because it does not present (clinically) in exactly the same way as other Ebola strains," he said.
Health officials are trying to trace all possible cases in order to test them and isolate them if necessary, he added.
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November 30th, 2007, 10:06 AM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
Uganda's Ebola outbreak is new strain: ministry
55 minutes ago
KAMPALA (AFP) — A lethal Ebola virus that has killed at least 16 people and infected 51 others in western Uganda is a previously unknown strain, health authorities said Friday.
Analysis on victims' blood and tissue samples sent to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control's pathogens laboratory behaved differently from previous known strains of Ebola, they said.
"It is a new type of strain. It is different from the one we suffered in Gulu and also different from the one that reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo," said Sam Okware, who chairs Uganda's national hemorrhagic fever task force.
The first Ebola case was reported on November 10 in Bundibugyo district on the border with DR Congo, where three patients are currently in an isolation ward.
Virologists say previous strains destroyed the linings of blood capillaries and vessels, prompting fluids to drain out of the circulatory system through the body's orifices and pores, killing the victim through shock.
But there is not much bleeding in the new strain that appears to kill its victims after provoking a high fever, they say.
Authorities have assembled epidemiologists and virologists in the affected district to monitor the disease.
"We have put our people on alert for anyone who is complaining of fever, abdominal pain, vomiting and has developed rashes," Okware said, referring to the early symptoms of the new strain.
An outbreak of Ebola, a highly contagious disease that can have fatality rates as high as 90 percent, killed at least 170 people in northern Uganda's Gulu district in 2000.
A similar outbreak has killed at least 26 people in DR Congo's West Kasai region in recent weeks, according to the country's Health Minister Victor Makwenge Kaput.
It spreads by direct human contact, especially through infected blood.
The Ebola virus was first identified in 1976 in Sudan and in a nearby region of Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire). Outbreaks of Ebola have also occurred in the Ivory Coast and Gabon.
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November 30th, 2007, 07:48 PM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - UGANDA (04): (BUNDIBUGYO), EBOLA CONFIRMED
[1]
Date: Fri 30 Nov 2007
Source: allAfrica.com [edited[
< http://allafrica.com/stories/200711291106.html>
Uganda: Ebola Strikes Again
The strange viral disease that struck the western district of
Bundibugyo in August [2007] and has to date killed 16 people has been
confirmed by the Health Ministry to be Ebola haemorrhagic fever, a
deadly disease for which there is no cure.
Announcing the existence of the Ebola [virus] in the country
yesterday, Dr Sam Zaramba, the director general of health services
said; " The Ministry of Health would like to inform the public that
the mysterious disease outbreak in Bundibubyo has now been confirmed
to be Ebola." The confirmatory laboratory tests, initially carried
out at the National Institute of Virology in South Africa and later
at the US-based Centre for Disease Control, comes months after the
disease spread to 14 villages in the affected district.
Dr Zaramba yesterday denied reports that the government had known
about the deadly epidemic outbreak weeks earlier but concealed it in
order not to scare away foreign dignitaries who were scheduled to
attend the just concluded Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in
Kampala. "It would be unethical for me to keep quiet (about an
epidemic outbreak).  It is true we knew there was a strange disease in
western Uganda but had not got the conclusive confirmation that it
was Ebola until today (Thursday) [29 Nov 2007] morning," he stressed.
He said the laboratory diagnostic process was so arduous and
protracted that out of 20 (blood) samples sent to foreign capitals,
"only eight tested positive".
Dr William Sikyewunda, the district director of health services for
Bundibugyo said latest reports indicate the disease had killed at
least 27 residents and 51 others were infected, mainly in Bubukwanga
and Kasitu sub-counties. But other unconfirmed reports put the total
death toll to date at 50.
The government yesterday dispatched a team of health officials from
the Ministry of Health headquarters in Kampala to strengthen rapid
response capability in the trouble spots. "The initial supplies and
drugs for case management have been mobilised and isolation
facilities are already operational in Bundibugyo Hospital and Kikyo
Health centre (IV)," the ministry said in the press statement.
The chairman of the National Ebola taskforce, Dr Sam Okware, said the
Ebola strain identified in the western enclave is "completely
different" from the four known sub types of the heamorrhagic fever
namely; Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Reston (that only affects
monkeys) and Ebola Tai (Ivory Coast).
The common symptoms of Ebola, that causes death in 70 to 90 percent
of all clinically ill cases; include very high fever, diarrhea,
vomiting associated with red eyes and a measles-like rash. Health
officials issued a countrywide wide Ebola alert and urged the public
to be vigilant and promptly report any suspected cases to the nearest
health facility or call the cell phone hotlines 0772507799,
0772409810.
Daily Monitor has established that a core group of specialized staff
from World Health Organization, Unicef, MSF - France and Afrinet left
for Bundibugyo yesterday to join local medics and bolster case
management of patients, contact tracing and public education. "Ebola
is spread by close contact with body fluids of an infected person or
people who have died of the disease. Anybody handling suspected cases
must use appropriate protective wear," the official warning statement
said.
Medical experts say the incubation period for the Ebola virus is
between two to 21 days, depending on the strain. By last evening,
information emerged that Bundibugyo hospital medical superintendent
only identified as Dr Ssesanga and Dr Joshua Akure, another medic and
employee of International Air Ambulance were down with illnesses
suspected to be Ebola.
Ebola last struck Uganda in the northern district of Gulu in October
2000 and killed 224 people, including Dr Mathew Lukwiya, the then
medical superintendent of Lacor hospital, who first identified and
later relentlessly spearheaded the fight against the disease. It was
believed that Ugandan soldiers who were by then returning from the
Democratic Republic of Congo brought the disease into the country.
The WHO says Ebola has in the past four months killed 160 out of 352
infected persons, especially in the southern province of DRC's Kasai
Occidental, which is about 2, 000 kilometres away from Uganda. The
virulent disease was first identified in the Western Equatorial
province of Sudan and in a nearby region of former Zaire (now
Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1976 and about 1500 cases with over
1000 deaths have been documented ever since.
Just like Marburg fever, the Ebola virus' natural reservoir is still
a puzzle, experts have said, but it seems to reside in African rain
forests and in areas of the Western Pacific, according to the United
Nations health agency but is said to be part of a group of
negative-stranded RNA viruses, known as Filoviridae and mostly not
airborne.
[Byline: Tabu Butagira & Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa: Additional reporting
by Jane Nafula]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail < promed@promedmail.org>
**************
[2]
Date: Fri 30 Nov 2007
Source: Agence France Press report [edited]
< http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gyddRPqYbvM2nbT-YjpceBWqN2jQ>
Ebola confirmed as killer virus in Uganda
---------------------------------------------------
A virus that killed 16 people and infected more than 50 others in
western Uganda has been confirmed as Ebola, the health ministry said
Thursday [29 Nov 2007]. The deadly virus was confirmed in samples
flown to a laboratory in Atlanta in the United States, the ministry
said. "We have been on the ground and we are deploying more people to
manage the situation," said Sam Zaramba, the country's top medical
official.
Zaramba said the first case was reported on November 10 in Bundibugyo
district on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
where three patients were currently in an isolation ward. "It is a
dangerous disease as is any other haemorrhagic fever, but the WHO
(World Health Organisation) and officials from CDC (Centre for
Disease Control) are working with us to remain in control of the
situation," Zaramba explained.
An outbreak of Ebola, a highly contagious disease that can have
fatality rates as high as 90 percent, killed at least 170 people in
northern Uganda in 2000. It spreads by direct human contact,
especially through blood contact. A similar Ebola outbreak killed at
least 26 people in DR Congo's West Kasai region in recent weeks,
according to the country's Health Minister Victor Makwenge Kaput. The
WHO says Ebola has killed at least 1200 people since it was first
discovered in DRC and Sudan in 1976.
http://www.promedmail.org/
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November 30th, 2007, 08:24 PM
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Editor and Director of the China Forum
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
Uganda: Ebola Outbreak Paralyses Activities in Western Region
The Monitor (Kampala)
1 December 2007
Posted to the web 30 November 2007
Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa & Joseph Mugisha
Bundibugyo /Kampala
Ebola outbreak in Bundibugyo District has paralysed businesses and social activities in the larger part of western Uganda.
Bundibugyo RDC Samuel Kazinga said many residents in Kasese, Bundibugyo and Kabarole have confined themselves at home for fear of catching the disease, "The district has not yet been officially quarantined but it has happened naturally because locals here and in neighbouring districts are no longer moving from their localities. Businesses are paralysed and we are worried for what will come next," he said on telephone on Friday.
This follows confirmatory laboratory tests which showed that the strange viral disease that has been battering the district since August is Ebola haemorrhagic fever, a deadly plague for which there is no cure. Sixteen people have so far been reported dead and 51 others infected, according to the Health ministry.
However, unofficial reports put the number of the dead at 30.
By Thursday evening, at least 14 villages had been affected. These include, Kabango, Ntandi , Butolya, Kikyo, Kizufo, and Bugharama. Others are Butantagua , Bulhambago, Bundimwali I, Buyaya, Bugharama II and Bulhambaghiri.The government yesterday dispatched a response team of medical experts in the district to trace contacts of the deadly Ebola patients.
"Part of the response team from Kampala is already here and I am heading it to ensure that we arrest the situation," said Dr. William Sikyewunda , the district director of health services for Bundibugyo.
Dr. Sikyewunda said Kikyo Health Centre IV in Kasitu Sub-county on the foothills of Mount Rwenzori has been declared the Ebola treatment centre. He said seven new cases had been recorded at the centre.
In Kabarole, a scare was sparked off by the death of unidentified man who is reported to have left Bundibugyo on Wednesday.
The common symptoms of Ebola, which causes death in 70 to 90 per cent of all clinically ill cases, include very high fever, diarrhea, vomiting associated with red eyes and a measles-like rash.
Health officials issued a countrywide Ebola alert and urged the public to be vigilant and promptly report any suspected cases to the nearest health facility or call on phone hotlines 0772507799, 0772409810.
Ebola last struck Uganda in the northern district of Gulu in October 2000 and killed 224 people, including Dr Mathew Lukwiya, the then medical superintendent of Lacor Hospital.  http://allafrica.com/stories/200711301144.html
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December 1st, 2007, 12:16 PM
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Editor and Director of the China Forum
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Uganda
30 November 2007
The Ministry of Health (MoH), Uganda, has confirmed an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever, in Bundibugyo District, western Uganda. As of 28 November, 51 suspected cases, including 16 deaths have been reported. Among the reported cases, 3 health care workers were also infected, including one fatality. Cases are being hospitalized at Kikyo and Bundibugyo.
Laboratory analysis undertaken at the National Reference Laboratories and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA has confirmed the presence of a new species of Ebola virus in samples taken from cases associated with the outbreak.
Based on initial field investigations, the MoH/WHO Country office has reported that the outbreak might have been ongoing since Sept 2007. A national task force comprising MoH, WHO and other international partners in the field, is coordinating the response to this outbreak. WHO Country office is assisting the MOH national field team and the District health officials. http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_11_30a/en/index.html
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December 1st, 2007, 12:40 PM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
Death-toll rises from Uganda's Ebola outbreak
By Francis Kwera Reuters - Saturday, December 1 12:54 pmKAMPALA (Reuters) - Two more Ugandans have died of a new strain of the deadly Ebola virus in an outbreak near the border with Democratic Republic of Congo, bringing the death-toll to 18, health officials said on Saturday.
"We have had two more deaths in the last 24 hours, and the disease continues to spread," Sam Zaramba, the Ugandan Health Ministry's director of health services, told Reuters.
Zaramba said World Health Organisation (WHO) officials had teamed up with local experts to draw up a strategy to contain the outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever in the western Bundibugyo region. More than 50 people are also infected.
"We have set up isolation wards where all those who have been diagnosed with Ebola have been quarantined, and are being monitored closely," Zaramba added.
Genetic analysis of samples taken from some of the victims shows it is a previously unknown type of Ebola, making it the fifth strain, U.S. and Ugandan health officials say.
Ebola can cause internal and external bleeding. Victims often die of shock, but symptoms can be vague, including fever, muscle pain and nausea. It is known to infect humans, chimpanzees and gorillas.
Uganda was last hit by an epidemic of Ebola in 2000, when
425 people caught it and just over half of them died.
An outbreak in neighbouring Congo this year infected up to 264 people, killing 187, the World Health Organisation says.
Ugandan health officials originally suspected Marburg, a close Ebola cousin that infected three people in a different part of western Uganda the month before, killing one.
But samples had tested negative.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/200712...55be19a_6.html
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December 1st, 2007, 02:12 PM
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Retired
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
18 BP identity between Ebola and H5
AY296077.2
| Influenza A virus (A/Duck/NJ/117228-7/2001(H5N2)) segment 4 hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| AY296078.2
| Influenza A virus (A/unknown/NY/118547-11/2001(H5N2)) segment 4 hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| EU051635.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain Mandza spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| EU051634.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain Etoumbi spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| EU051633.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain CH Lossi spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| EU051632.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain GOR Ekata spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| EU051631.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain GOR2 Lossi spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| EU051630.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain GOR1 Lossi spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| EF646274.2
| Influenza A virus (A/heron/Cicurug/IPB25-RS/2006(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF646272.2
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Leuwiliang/IPB3-RS/2006(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF646271.2
| Influenza A virus (A/goose/Leuwiliang/IPB4-RS/2006(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF646270.2
| Influenza A virus (A/muscovy duck/Klapanunggal/IPB1-RS/2006(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF646269.2
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Nagrak/IPB6-RS/2006(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF646266.2
| Influenza A virus (A/muscovy duck/Cileungsi/IPB5-RS/2006(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF607883.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/WA/44242-264/2006(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607894.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MD/185/2003(H5N?)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607890.1
| Influenza A virus (A/ruddy turnstone/NJ/1148676/2004(H5N7)) hemagglutinin gene, partial cds
| EF607888.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MN/105/2000(H5N5)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607886.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MN/479/2000(H5N3)) hemagglutinin gene, partial cds
| EF607885.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MN/382/2000(H5N3)) hemagglutinin gene, partial cds
| EF607884.1
| Influenza A virus (A/tundra swan/AK/44049-168/2006(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607882.1
| Influenza A virus (A/northern pintail/FL/598/2007(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607881.1
| Influenza A virus (A/ruddy turnstone/DE/371/2003(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, partial cds
| EF607880.1
| Influenza A virus (A/ruddy turnstone/DE/313/2003(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, partial cds
| EF607877.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/OH/345/1988(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, partial cds
| EF607876.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MN/6/2000(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, partial cds
| EF607875.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MN/410/2000(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607874.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MN/168/2000(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, partial cds
| EF607873.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MN/166/2000(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, partial cds
| EF607871.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MN/113/2000(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, partial cds
| EF607869.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MD/866/2002(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607860.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MD/185/2003(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607859.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MD/865/2002(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607856.1
| Influenza A virus (A/wood duck/MD/04-623/2004(H5N1)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607855.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mute swan/MI/451072-2/2006(H5N1)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607854.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/PA/454069/2005(H5N1)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF607853.1
| Influenza A virus (A/black duck/NC/674-694/2006(H5N1)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EU099317.1
| Influenza A virus (A/Canada goose/AK/44075-058/2006(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) mRNA, complete cds
| EF405825.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/ON/499/2005(H5N1)) clone 2 segment 4, complete sequence
| EF205596.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/MB/458/2005(H5)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| AB355929.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Hokkaido/Vac-3/2007(H5N1)) genomic RNA, segment 4, complete sequence
| EF646273.1
| Influenza A virus (A/goose/Bojonggenteng/IPB2-RS/2006(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF597269.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/Italy/37/2002(H5N3)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF597268.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/Italy/36/2002(H5N3)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF597267.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Italy/8/1998(H5N2)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| EF597266.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/Italy/208/2000(H5N3)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| EF597265.1
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| EF597264.1
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| EF597263.1
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| EF597261.1
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| EF597259.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Jiang Xi/1850/2005(H5N2)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| EF597258.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Jiang Xi/1286/2005(H5N2)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| EF597256.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Jiang Xi/197820/2003(H5N3)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF597255.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Jiang Xi/6146/2003(H5N3)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF597254.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Yunnan/435/2002(H5N3)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF597253.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Hong Kong/819/1980(H5N3)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF597252.1
| Influenza A virus (A/goose/Hong Kong/23/1978(H5N3)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF597251.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Hong Kong/342/1978(H5N2)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF597250.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Hong Kong/698/1979(H5N3)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF597249.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Hong Kong/394/1978(H5N3)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| EF597248.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Hong Kong/312/1978(H5N3)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| CY022621.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Italy/22A/1998(H5N9)) segment 4, complete sequence
| CY022645.1
| Influenza A virus (A/teal/Italy/3812/2005(H5N3)) segment 4, complete sequence
| CY022637.1
| Influenza A virus (A/teal/Italy/3931-38/2005(H5N2)) segment 4, complete sequence
| CY022629.1
| Influenza A virus (A/turkey/Italy/1325/2005(H5N2)) segment 4, complete sequence
| CY022261.1
| Influenza A virus (A/poultry/Italy/365/1997(H5N2)) segment 4, complete sequence
| EF670482.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Hubei/14/2004(H5N1)) segment 4 hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| CY022077.1
| Influenza A virus (A/poultry/Italy/367/1997(H5N2)) segment 4, complete sequence
| AM040150.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/France/05056a/2005(H5N2)) HA gene for hemagglutinin, genomic RNA
| EF634332.1
| Influenza A virus (A/garganey/SanJiang/160/2006(H5N2)) segment 4 hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| EF587277.1
| Influenza A virus (A/Beijing/01/2003(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ826532.3
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/BC/373/2005(H5N2)) hemagglutinin gene, complete cds
| EF541407.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Viet Nam/Ncvd8/2003(H5N1)) segment 4 hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| EF541405.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Viet Nam/Ncvd1/2002(H5N1)) segment 4 hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| EF541398.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Viet Nam/342/2001(H5N1)) segment 4 hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| AJ972673.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/France/05057b/2005(H5N2)) HA gene for hemagglutinin, genomic RNA
| AJ971298.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/France/05054a/2005(H5N3)) HA gene for hemagglutinin, genomic RNA
| AJ971297.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/France/05066b/2005(H5N1)) HA gene for hemagglutinin, genomic RNA
| CY021525.1
| Influenza A virus (A/turkey/Italy/1258/2005(H5N2)) segment 4, complete sequence
| AM408214.1
| Influenza A virus (A/teal/Germany/WV632/2005(H5N1)) HA gene for hemagglutinin, genomic RNA
| CY021397.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/Italy/3401/2005(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| CY020229.1
| Influenza A virus (A/poultry/Italy/373/1997(H5N2)) segment 4, complete sequence
| CY018949.1
| Influenza A virus (A/poultry/Italy/382/1997(H5N2)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ997352.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Jilin/hn/2003(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
| DQ997325.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Jilin/hk/2004(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| DQ997253.1
| Influenza A virus (A/swine/Henan/wy/2004(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ997262.1
| Influenza A virus (A/swine/Guangxi/wz/2004(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| DQ997218.1
| Influenza A virus (A/mallard/Guangxi/wt/2004(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ997522.1
| Influenza A virus (A/goose/Guangdong/xb/2001(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ997410.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Zhejiang/bj/2002(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ997531.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Shanghai/xj/2002(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ997513.1
| Influenza A virus (A/duck/Guangxi/xa/2001(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ997547.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Jilin/xw/2003(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ997377.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Jilin/hf/2002(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ997283.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Jilin/hd/2002(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ997268.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Jilin/ha/2003(H5N1)) segment 4, complete sequence
| DQ997318.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Jilin/hj/2003(H5N1)) nonfunctional hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete sequence
| DQ997308.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Jilin/hh/2002(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, complete cds
| DQ997396.1
| Influenza A virus (A/chicken/Hunan/fg/2004(H5N1)) hemagglutinin (HA) gene, partial cds
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December 1st, 2007, 02:23 PM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
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December 1st, 2007, 03:38 PM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
Kampala - Uganda, currently battling an Ebola epidemic in a western district, said Saturday it has registered four new cases involving a doctor and three nurses. The news brings the total number of those infected by the deadly virus to 55, out of which 16 have died so far.
"The medical staff, including the doctor, are in Bundibugyo hospital isolation unit," the chairman of the Ebola National Task Force, Dr Sam Okware, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The health ministry has issued an order to all medical staff in the district who have been in contact with Ebola patients to be quarantined, Okware said.
Aggressive measures are being put in place to contain the epidemic which has spread in over 10 villages in Bundibugyo district on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo since September.
"This Ebola strain is different from other strains found in Sudan and the Congo. We are taking precautions and we have told any health worker who feels unwell to be quarantined. We have one doctor and three nurses and they have been isolated," Okware said.
This latest outbreak of the fast-spreading killer disease in the East African country is the second since late 2000 when Ebola hit the northern region, leaving 224 people dead out of the total of 425 who were infected http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/151534.html
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
New Ebola strain kills two more in western Uganda: ministry
9 hours ago
KAMPALA (AFP) —
Another two patients have died from the Ebola virus in western Uganda, bring the toll to 18, an health official said Saturday, as authorities struggled put the disease under control.
"Cumulatively, there are 18 deaths and 61 cases," said Sam Zaramba, the country's top government physician.
A total of 19 patients were quarantined in Bundibugyo hospital near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, which itself has had harrowing experience of the virulent disease.
"Those admitted are mainly health workers and those who attended to the patients," Zaramba told AFP.
"The situation is not yet under control. The main challenge we are facing dectecting cases and following up who those who made contacts with the patients," Zaramba explained.
Authorities on Friday said the outbreak was an unknown strain after analysis was done on tissue samples at the laboratories of the Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control.
Initial field probes showed the outbreak was ongoing in Bundibugyo district since September, the World Health Organisation said.
On Saturday, Rwandan authorities announced they had tightened border health controls to prevent if from travelling across the frontier from western Uganda.
Ebola is a highly contagious disease that can have fatality rates as high as 90 percent, as there is no vaccine or treatment. The disease spreads mainly through human fluids, notably blood.
An outbreak killed at least 170 people in northern Uganda's Gulu district in 2000. Another in recent weeks killed at least 26 people in DR Congo's West Kasai region.
The Ebola virus was first identified in 1976 in Sudan and in a nearby region of Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire). Outbreaks of Ebola have also occurred in the Ivory Coast and Gabon.
Since then, experts have said the disease is usually containable because it kills its victims faster that it can spread to new ones.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...BWU6Qm8gY0pUxw
__________________
"In the beginning of change, the patriot is a scarce man (or woman ), and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for it then costs nothing to be a patriot."- Mark Twain
Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it. -Thomas Paine
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December 1st, 2007, 04:15 PM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
| Ebola: Experts arrive | | Friday, 30th November, 2007 | | An emergency medical team yesterday morning flew to Bundibugyo district, where 16 people have died of Ebola to back up the local team.
The team is headed by the Commissioner for Health Services, Dr. Sam Okware.
Speaking from the ground, Okware said they would provide medical supplies, treatment, and ensure that the disease is contained.
The disease, which has afflicted 51 people so far, broke out in August but it was only confirmed as Ebola on Thursday.
The Director General of Health Services, Dr. Sam Zaramba, told Parliament that tests at the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, USA, had confirmed Ebola.
Zaramba explained that the disease manifested itself differently from the one that hit northern Uganda in 2000, making it difficult for health workers to suspect Ebola.
The disease is characterised by bleeding, high fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, red eyes and a rash.
Ebola is spread through contact with the body fluids of infected persons.
At least 35 people are still admitted in Bundibugyo Hospital.
14 villages affected include Kikyo, Kabango, Ntandi, Butolya, Bugharama and Kizufo. Others were Buyaya, Butantagua, Bulhambago, Bundimwali I, Bugharama II and Bulhambaghiri, Zaramba said.
The first time Ebola occured in Bunyoro and the North, 2000, over 140 people died. http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/599867
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December 1st, 2007, 06:50 PM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
Coordinates of Bundibugyo (town or district?) 0° 44' 29" North, 30° 2' 30" East
__________________
"In the beginning of change, the patriot is a scarce man (or woman ), and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for it then costs nothing to be a patriot."- Mark Twain
Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it. -Thomas Paine
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December 2nd, 2007, 12:20 AM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
EBOLA HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - UGANDA (02): (BUNDIBUGYO)
************************************************** *
A ProMED-mail post
< http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
< http://www.isid.org>
[1]
Date: Fri 30 Nov 2007
Soutce: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ajc.com [edited]
< http://www.ajc.com/health/content/health/stories/2007/11/30/ebola_1201_web.html
>
New Ebola virus discovered by CDC
----------------------------------------------
Inside high-containment laboratories on Clifton Road in Atlanta, GA,
scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
this week [26-30 Nov 2007] identified what appears to be a new strain
of the deadly Ebola virus. A team of CDC disease detectives on Friday
[30 Nov 2007] was preparing to travel to a remote area in western
Uganda to help contain an outbreak that so far involves 51 people,
including 16 who have died.
"The most important consideration is to have a sense of what's been
going on with the outbreak: How many people are affected, where and
when the outbreak is moving, and trying to stop transmission," said
Dr. Eileen Farnon, the CDC epidemiologist who will be part of a
5-member field team assisting the Uganda Ministry of Health.
Dr. Thomas Ksiazek, chief of CDC's Special Pathogens Branch, said
Friday it's not yet known whether the Ebola virus causing the current
outbreak in Uganda's Bundibugyo District is any more or less deadly
than the 4 previously known strains. "There is very little
information about the eventual outcome in the cases] that have been
confirmed so far," Ksiazek said. Ebola, an often-fatal hemorrhagic
fever, causes internal and external bleeding in its victims. Both
humans and non-human primates can be infected.
Samples arrived at CDC's Biosafety Level 4 labs in Atlanta on Monday
[26 Nov 20007]. By Tuesday [27 Nov 2007], Ksiazek said, it was
apparent this was not a typical Ebola virus. Dr. Stuart Nichol, a CDC
special pathogens team leader, said some molecular tests for Ebola
were coming back negative, when another type of test came back
positive. The CDC lab was then able to extract a small fragment of
the virus' genome. "It looks, based on this, like it's a new species
of Ebola," Nichol said Friday evening. Previously, there were only 4
known types of Ebola. The Sudan and Zaire species were discovered in
1976. A strain called Reston was identified in 1989 among monkeys
imported to a lab in Virginia. And in 1994, the Ivory Coast strain
was identified. Depending on the strain, the death rate varies.
Ebola-Zaire kills about 80 percent of its victims, while the Sudan
strain kills about 50 percent, Ksiazek said. Ebola Reston is not
lethal for humans. - Mod.CP]
[Byline: Alison Young]
******
[2]
Date: Sat 1 Dec 2007
Source: Agence France Presse (AFG) report [edited]
< http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jfnjY2DdWT3WSLBWU6Qm8gY0pUxw>
New Ebola strain kills 2 more in western Uganda
--------------------------------------------------------------
Another 2 patients have died from the Ebola virus in western Uganda,
bring the toll to 18, an health official said Saturday [1 Dec 2007],
as the authorities struggled put the disease under control.
"Cumulatively, there are 18 deaths and 61 cases," said Sam Zaramba,
the country's top government physician. A total of 19 patients were
quarantined in Bundibugyo hospital near the border with the
Democratic Republic of Congo, which itself has had harrowing
experience of the virulent disease [but not this strain of Ebola
virus - Mod.CP].
"Those admitted are mainly health workers and those who attended to
the patients," Zaramba told AFP. "The situation is not yet under
control. The main challenge we are facing is detecting cases and
following up who those who made contacts with the patients," Zaramba
explained. The authorities on Friday [30 Nov 2007] said the outbreak
was an unknown strain after analysis was done on tissue samples at
the laboratories of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Initial field probes showed the outbreak [had been] ongoing in
Bundibugyo district since September [2007], the World Health
Organisation said. On Saturday, Rwandan authorities announced they
had tightened border health controls to prevent [the disease] from
travelling across the frontier from western Uganda.
Ebola is a highly contagious disease that can have fatality rates as
high as 90 percent, as there is no vaccine or treatment. The disease
spreads mainly through human fluids, notably blood. An outbreak
killed at least 170 people in northern Uganda's Gulu district in
2000. Another in recent weeks killed at least 26 people in the
Democratic Republic of Congo's West Kasai region. The Ebola virus was
1st identified in 1976 in Sudan and in a nearby region of Democratic
Republic of the Congo (then Zaire). Outbreaks of Ebola have also
occurred in the Ivory Coast and Gabon. Since then, experts have said
the disease is usually containable because it kills its victims
faster that it can spread to new ones.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
< promed@promedmail.org>
[An unusual feature of this outbreak is that: "Those admitted [to
hospital?] are mainly health workers and those who attended to the
patients," It would be interesting to know the basis for the WHO
statement that the outbreak may have been developing since September,
although the first confirmed cases were not identified until November.
An interactive map of the Bundibugyo region of Western Uganda is available at:
< http://www.maplandia.com/uganda/bundibugyo/>. - Mod.CP]
[see also:
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda: (Bundibugyo), WHO 20071130.3869
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (04): (Bundibugyo), Ebola confirmed 20071130.3859
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (03): (Bundibugyo) 20071121.3775
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (02): (Bundibugyo), Marburg NOT 20071116.3718
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (Bundibugyo): Marburg susp., RFI 20071114.3697
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (06): new case 20071002.3257
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (05) 20070817.2697
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (04), WHO 20070814.2656
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (03) 20070810.2609
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (02) 20070804.2533
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda 20070803.2514
Viral hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (Kamwenge): Marburg conf. 20070801.2490
Viral hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (Kamwenge): Marburg susp., RFI 20070801.2475
2001
----
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda: postscript 20011019.2576]
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (04): (Bundibugyo), Ebola confirmed 20071130.3859
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (04): (Bundibugyo), Ebola confirmed 20071130.3859
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (03): (Bundibugyo) 20071121.3775
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (02): (Bundibugyo), Marburg NOT 20071116.3718
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (Bundibugyo): Marburg susp., RFI 20071114.3697
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (06): new case 20071002.3257
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (05) 20070817.2697
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (04), WHO 20070814.2656
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (03) 20070810.2609
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (02) 20070804.2533
Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda 20070803.2514
Viral hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (Kamwenge): Marburg conf. 20070801.2490
Viral hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (Kamwenge): Marburg susp., RFI 20070801.2475
2001
----
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda: postscript 20011019.2576]
....................cp/ejp/lm
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December 2nd, 2007, 12:58 AM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
Longer Ebola list with identity to 18 BP in H5
Accession
| Description
| EU051635.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain Mandza spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| EU051634.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain Etoumbi spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| EU051633.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain CH Lossi spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| EU051632.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain GOR Ekata spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| EU051631.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain GOR2 Lossi spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| EU051630.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain GOR1 Lossi spike glycoprotein precursor, gene, complete cds
| AF086833.2
| Zaire Ebola virus strain Mayinga, complete genome
| AY354458.1
| Zaire ebolavirus strain Zaire 1995, complete genome
| AY142960.1
| Zaire Ebola virus strain Mayinga subtype Zaire, complete genome
| L11365.1
| Zaire Ebola virus nucleoprotein, polymerase complex protein (vp35), matrix protein (vp40), glycoprotein (gp), minor nucleoprotein (vp30), and membrane-associated structural protein (vp24)s, complete cds; and polymerase (POLYMERASE), partial cds
| AF499101.1
| Zaire Ebola virus strain Mayinga, complete genome
| U31033.1
| Zaire Ebola virus envelope glycoprotein (GP) gene, complete cds, secreted small glycoprotein (sGP) gene, complete cds
| U28077.1
| Zaire Ebola virus strain Zaire95 virion spike glycoprotein (SP) gene, complete cds, and small/secreted glycoprotein precursor (SGP) gene, complete cds
| U23187.1
| Zaire Ebola virus Mayinga strain glycoprotein (GP) gene, complete cds
| U81161.1
| Zaire Ebola virus virion spike glycoprotein and small secreted non-structural glycoprotein sGP (GP) gene, complete cds
| AF272001.1
| Zaire Ebola virus strain Mayinga, complete genome
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December 2nd, 2007, 09:12 AM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
| Medics flee western Uganda as Ebola spreads |  | | | | 2 December 2007 | 05:30 | FOCUS News Agency | | | | Kampala. Several dozen medics and support staff have fled western Uganda after their coworkers became infected with the Ebola virus in an outbreak that has already killed 18 people, officials said Saturday.
Ugandan officials clamped a quarantine on the Bundibugyo region and appealed for help in dealing with the outbreak of Ebola, a contagious disease that kills up to 90 percent of those infected, AFP reported.
However efforts to contain the outbreak, which began in September but was definitively identified as Ebola only last week, have been hampered by medical personnel becoming infected and others fleeing.
"We have a shortage of health workers and we need more because those who were there on the ground have been infected: two doctors, a medical officer and a nurse," said Sam Zaramba, the country's top government physician.
"Health workers are terribly afraid. They have abandoned patients in health units for fear of being infected," a government official told the state-owned New Vision newspaper.
| | http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n128484 |
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December 2nd, 2007, 09:25 AM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
Ebola drives medical help Uganda on the run
ANP, AFP
Published on 02 December 2007 09:32, modified on December 2, 2007 10:07
KAMPALA - Dozens of doctors and nurses are the extreme west of Uganda escaped after the outbreak of ebola fever. The authorities have this Saturday in the capital Kampala. The outbreak has already claimed eighteen lives in the affected region Bundibugyo.
The disease off since around September, but it was only last week established that it is the highly contagious and dangerous ebolakoorts.
That caused panic at the very poorly equipped and poorly protected medical personnel.
There are currently 43 ebola patiënten in the area counted, in addition to the deceased eighteen patients.
Ebola is the name for a group of dangerous viruses in 1976 in the then Zaire to the river Ebola is discovered. There is no way of combating found. The outbreak is usually very local, and between half and 90 percent of patients dies in short time. It is allegedly so earlier by the United States and the then Soviet Union tested for the usefulness as a biological weapon. http://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/...a_op_de_vlucht
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December 2nd, 2007, 09:42 AM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
CDC scientists find new Ebola virus strain
Published: Dec. 1, 2007 at 7:11 PM
ATLANTA, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists in Atlanta say they believe they have found a new strain of the deadly Ebola virus.
After testing samples sent from an Ebola outbreak in Uganda, CBC scientists said they may have found a fifth strain of the extremely dangerous virus, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Saturday.
The outbreak in Uganda has claimed at least 16 lives and has contaminated 51 people to date.
Dr. Eileen Farnon, an epidemiologist with the CDC, said investigators would soon be on site to determine the scope of the spread of the virus and how best to contain the outbreak.
"The most important consideration is to have a sense of what's been going on with the outbreak: How many people are affected, where and when the outbreak is moving, and trying to stop transmission," she said.
The Ebola virus can affect both humans and non-human primates, causing internal and external bleeding.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Health/...30/print_view/
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December 2nd, 2007, 09:44 AM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
Ebola: Bundibugyo medics abandon patients
By John Thawite, Bizimungu
Kisakye and agencies
MEDICAL workers in Bundibugyo District have fled their workplaces in fear of contracting the deadly Ebola virus. Elias Byamungu, the Chief Administrative Officer, on Friday said medical workers had abandoned patients in health units, for fear of being infected.
“The health workers are terribly afraid,” he said. Byamungu put the death toll at 28. Health authorities, however, last night put the toll at 18, up from 16 registered by Thursday.
“We have had two more deaths in the last 24 hours and the disease continues to spread,” Dr. Sam Zaramba, the Director General of Health Services, told Reuters. He said World Health Organisation (WHO) officials had teamed up with local experts to draw up a strategy to contain the outbreak. More than 50 people are also infected.
District health officials said five new cases were admitted to Bundibugyo Hospital yesterday.
“We have set up isolation wards where all those who have been diagnosed with Ebola have been quarantined, and are being monitored closely,” Zaramba said.
The first victim died in August, but the cause of death was referred to as a ‘mysterious illness’.
Until Wednesday when the health ministry and the WHO confirmed it as being Ebola, the disease, which has ravaged 14 villages in the district, was being described as “mysterious” and “strange”.
Zaramba said the illness was confirmed as being Ebola following tests at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, US.
Speaking on phone, Byamungu said among the infected are three medical workers including a doctor, whom he identified only as Ssesanga, who he said was critically ill. He said the disease started in Kikyo Parish, Kasitu Sub-county and later spread to Ngamba Parish, Bundibugyo Town Council and Bubukwanga Sub-county.
The first death occurred after a group of residents of Kikyo feasted on a goat in August.
“There were accusations and counter-accusations of witchcraft. Some people were even arrested until we discovered that the problem was medical,” Byamungu said.
He expressed fear that the disease could be incubating in the neighbouring districts of Kabarole and Kasese, where infected people could have travelled.
Residents of Kabarole are in a state of panic, with many avoiding handshakes or being in crowed places. Taxi drivers plying the Fort Portal-Bundibugyo route said they were taking extra precautions. “We are not overloading our vehicles so as to reduce body contact among passengers. We also do not accept to transport visibly ill people,” said one driver.
Ebola is spread through contact with the body fluids of infected persons. This is the second major Ebola outbreak in Uganda. The last one occurred in 2000 in Bunyoro and in the north, killing over 140 people.
Published on: Saturday, 1st December, 2007
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail...&newsId=600030
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December 2nd, 2007, 10:41 AM
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
Officials Say Ebola Outbreak Spreading In Uganda - AFP
KAMPALA, Uganda (AFP)- -The Ebola outbreak that has killed 18 people in western Uganda appears to be spreading, officials said Sunday, as authorities examined a sample taken from a dead patient in the south of the country.
Government officials told AFP that the disease, which flared up in September, had spread to three new zones in the impoverished Bundibugyo district near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Virologists were meanwhile examining a sample taken from a suspected victim who died overnight in Mbarara region, 160 kilometers southeast of the affected district.
Health officials said several dozen medics and support staff had fled Bundibugyo when their co-workers became infected with the virus in an outbreak that has already killed 18 people and infected 61.
Virologists were also investigating an isolated patient in the neighboring Port Portale district as well as the fatality in Mbarara.
" There are fears that the disease has spread," said a top health ministry official, who requested to remain unnamed.
"We are waiting for the results from the samples," he said of the two cases that have spread panic in the east African nation.
The disease, which is fatal in 90% of cases, is spread by contact of body fluids, primarily contamination of blood.
Epidemiologists and virologists are in Bundibugyo district to try to trace backwards the source of the virus as part of a campaign to avoid future outbreaks.
Authorities say the outbreak was an unknown strain after analysis was done on tissue samples at the laboratories of the Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control.
An outbreak killed at least 170 people in Uganda's northern Gulu district in 2000. Another in recent weeks killed at least 26 people in DR Congo's West Kasai region.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/Ne...ternational.na
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Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda May Be Spreading
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Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda
Outbreak of rare Ebola virus in Uganda worsens
Sun 2 Dec 2007, 15:24 GMT
KAMPALA (Reuters) - The number of Ugandans infected by a
new strain of the deadly Ebola virus has risen to 58, raising fears the death toll of 18 will also increase from the outbreak in a remote area near Democratic Republic of Congo.
The half dozen extra infections in recent days include some medical staff who were treating victims of the haemorrhagic fever which has swept the western Bundibugyo region since August.
" Four of our medical personnel, including a doctor and three nurses, have been isolated in Bundibugyo Hospital after catching the virus," said Dr. Sam Okware, head of Uganda's national hemorrhagic fever task force.
"We now have a team of experts on the ground to try and contain further spreading of the virus."
Genetic analysis of samples taken from some of the victims shows it is a previously unknown type of Ebola, making it the fifth strain, U.S. and Ugandan health officials say.
Ebola can cause internal and external bleeding.
Victims often die of shock, but symptoms can be vague, including fever, muscle pain and nausea. It is known to infect humans, chimpanzees and gorillas.
Uganda was last hit by an epidemic of Ebola in 2000, when 425 people caught it and just over half of them died, including a doctor treating victims.
An outbreak in neighbouring Congo this year infected up to 264 http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/u...7.html?rpc=401&
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December 2nd, 2007, 11:09 AM
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Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda May Be Spreading
| Medics flee Uganda | | By Vincent Mayanja, AFP | Published:Dec 02, 2007 |
|
KAMPALA - Several dozen medics and support staff have fled western Uganda after their co-workers became infected with the Ebola virus in an outbreak that has already killed 18 people, officials said on Saturday.
Ugandan officials clamped a quarantine on the Bundibugyo region and appealed for help in dealing with the outbreak of Ebola, a contagious disease that kills up to 90 percent of those infected.
However efforts to contain the outbreak, which began in September but was definitively identified as Ebola only last week, have been hampered by medical personnel becoming infected and others fleeing.
"We have a shortage of health workers and we need more because those who were there on the ground have been infected: two doctors, a medical officer and a nurse," said Sam Zaramba, the country’s top government physician.
"Health workers are terribly afraid. They have abandoned patients in health units for fear of being infected," a government official told the state-owned New Vision newspaper.
A health official for the Bundibugyo region, who asked not to be named, estimated the number of health and support staff to have abandoned their posts to be several dozen.
Zaramba said earlier that two more patients had succumbed to the virus in the region, bringing the toll to 18.
"Cumulatively, there are 18 deaths and 61 cases," he said.
A total of 19 patients were quarantined in Bundibugyo hospital near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, which itself has had harrowing experience with the virulent disease.
"Those admitted are mainly health workers and those who attended to the patients," Zaramba told AFP.
Previous Ebola fatalities among medical workers have been blamed on poor sanitation and hygiene in health centres that lack protective suits, respirator masks, latex gloves and other necessary safety gear.
Ebola spreads through contact of body fluids, particularly blood, putting health workers who lack protective gear at risk.
"The situation is not yet under control. The main challenge we are facing is detecting cases and following up on those who made contacts with the patients," Zaramba added.
A team of epidemiologists and virologists arrived in the region on Saturday to try to retrace backwards the source of the virus as part of a campaign to avoid future epidemics.
Authorities on Friday said the outbreak was an unknown strain after analysis was done on tissue samples at the laboratories of the Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control.
Known Ebola subtypes usually attack capillaries and blood vessel linings, draining the body of blood through openings, leaving the patient to die in shock, doctors say.
But the new Uganda subtype kills patients by provoking high fever, but without much loss of blood.
There is no vaccine or cure for Ebola.
On Saturday, Rwandan authorities announced they had tightened border health controls to prevent if from travelling across the frontier from western Uganda.
Experts say the disease is usually containable because it kills its victims faster that it can spread to new ones.
An outbreak killed at least 170 people in Uganda’s northern Gulu district in 2000. Another in recent weeks killed at least 26 people in DR Congo’s West Kasai region.
The Ebola virus was first identified in 1976 in Sudan and in a nearby region of DRC, then Zaire. Outbreaks of Ebola have also occurred in the Ivory Coast and Gabon. http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=647609
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December 2nd, 2007, 11:20 AM
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Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda May Be Spreading
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December 2nd, 2007, 11:24 AM
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Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda May Be Spreading
Rwanda reinforces border health controls
December 01 2007 at 12:05PM | |
Kigali - Rwanda's authorities announced on Saturday they had reinforced border health controls to prevent a previously unknown strain of the lethal Ebola virus from travelling across the frontier from western Uganda.
"We are extremely worried since this region isn't very far away from us and commercial and social exchanges are considerable," Innocent Nyaruhirira, Rwanda's secretary for HIV/Aids and other epidemics, told the government-controlled Radio Rwanda.
So far no Ebola cases have been detected in Rwanda, he said.
The Atlanta-based Centres for Disease Control announced on Friday a new strain of Ebola with new characteristics from the classic virus had been detected in western Uganda's Bundibugyo region.
Virologists say previous strains destroyed the linings of blood capillaries and vessels, prompting fluids to drain out of the circulatory system through the body's orifices and pores, killing the victim through shock.
But there is not much bleeding in the new strain that appears to kill its victims after provoking a high fever, they say.
So far 16 people have died out of the 51 Ebola cases detected in Uganda since September.
A similar outbreak has killed at least 26 people in DR Congo's West Kasai region in recent weeks, officials there report.
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http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?s...0157173C288597
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December 2nd, 2007, 11:41 AM
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Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda May Be Spreading
Ebola outbreak spreading
02/12/2007 15:58 - (SA
Kampala - The Ebola outbreak that has killed 18 people in western Uganda appears to be spreading, officials said on Sunday, as authorities examined a sample taken from a dead patient in the south of the country.
Government officials told AFP that the disease, which flared in September, had spread to three new zones in the impoverished Bundibugyo district near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Virologists were meanwhile examining a sample taken from a suspected victim who died overnight in Mbarara region, 160km southeast of the affected district.
Medics flee
Health officials said several dozen medics and support staff had fled the Bundibugyo when their co-workers became infected with the virus in an outbreak that has already killed 18 people and infected 61.
Virologists were also investigating an isolated patient in the neighbouring Port Portale district as well as the fatality in Mbarara.
"There are fears that the disease has spread," said a top health ministry official, who requested to remain unnamed.
"We are waiting for the results from the samples," he said of the two cases that have spread panic in the east African nation.
The disease, which is fatal in 90% of cases, is spread by contact of body fluids, primarily contamination of blood.
Unknown strain
Meanwhile, epidemiologists and virologists are in Bundibugyo district to try to trace backwards the source of the virus as part of a campaign to avoid future outbreaks.
Authorities say the outbreak was an unknown strain after analysis was done on tissue samples at the laboratories of the Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control.
Known Ebola sub-types usually attack capillaries and blood vessel linings, draining the body of blood through openings, leaving the patient to die in shock, doctors say.
But the new Uganda subtype, which provokes high fever, kills victims without much loss of blood.
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/...231444,00.html
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December 2nd, 2007, 11:47 AM
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Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda May Be Spreading
Spread may be exacerbated by asymptomatic carriers - this from the Lancet
The Lancet 2000; 355:2210-2215
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(00)02405-3
Human asymptomatic Ebola infection and strong inflammatory responseDr EM Leroy DVM  a  , S Baize PhD a, VE Volchkov PhD b, SP Fisher-Hoch MD c, M-C Georges-Courbot MD a, J Lansoud-Soukate PhD a, M Capron PhD d, P Debré MD e, JB McCormick and AJ Georges MD a
SummaryBackground
Ebola virus is one of the most virulent pathogens, killing a very high proportion of patients within 5–7 days. Two outbreaks of fulminating haemorrhagic fever occurred in northern Gabon in 1996, with a 70% case-fatality rate. During both outbreaks we identified some individuals in direct contact with sick patients who never developed symptoms. We aimed to determine whether these individuals were indeed infected with Ebola virus, and how they maintained asymptomatic status.
MethodsBlood was collected from 24 close contacts of symptomatic patients. These asymptomatic individuals were sampled 2, 3, or 4 times during a 1-month period after the first exposure to symptomatic patients. Serum samples were analysed for the presence of Ebola antigens, virus-specific IgM and IgG (by ELISA and western blot), and different cytokines and chemokines. RNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and reverse-transcriptase-PCR assays were done to amplify RNA of Ebola virus. PCR products were then sequenced.
Findings
11 of 24 asymptomatic individuals developed both IgM and IgG responses to Ebola antigens, indicating viral infection. Western-blot analysis showed that IgG responses were directed to nucleoprotein and viral protein of 40 kDa. The glycoprotein and viral protein of 24 kDa genes showed no nucleotide differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Asymptomatic individuals had a strong inflammatory response characterised by high circulating concentrations of cytokines and chemokines.
Interpretation
This study showed that asymptomatic, replicative Ebola infection can and does occur in human beings. The lack of genetic differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals suggest that asymptomatic Ebola infection did not result from viral mutations.
Elucidation of the factors related to the genesis of the strong inflammatory response occurring early during the infectious process in these asymptomatic individuals could increase our understanding of the disease.
__________________
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Shine upon you,
All love surround you,
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on."
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Last edited by sharon sanders; December 2nd, 2007 at 12:05 PM.
Reason: added citation
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December 2nd, 2007, 12:00 PM
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Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda May Be Spreading
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December 2nd, 2007, 12:29 PM
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Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda May Be Spreading
Doctor, 3 nurses catch Ebola
JOSEPH MUGISHA & AL-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA
BUNDIBUGYO/KAMPALA
AS the unusual Ebola strain identified in the southwestern district of Bundibugyo continues to take its toll, four health workers were reported to have been taken ill yesterday.
The District Ebola Task Force Chairman, Mr Samuel Kazinga, told Sunday Monitor yesterday that the four health workers include three nurses and a doctor, all attached to Bundibugyo Hospital. He said four other new cases had been recorded at Kikyo Health Centre IV.
”It is really unfortunate that those admitted at the hospital include our medical superintendent, Dr Stephen Ssesanga,” he said.
Sixteen people have so far been reported dead and 51 others infected, according to Mr Kazinga. However, unofficial reports continue to place the number of the dead at 30 while new recorded cases are seven.
Mr Kazinga, who is also the Bundibugyo RDC, said the task force had set up two patient isolation centres: one at Kikyo Health Centre IV and the other at Bundibugyo Hospital.
On Friday morning, the International Emergency Response Team arrived in the district to trace contacts of the deadly Ebola patients. More perplexing is that the Ebola type in Bundibugyo is “completely different” from the four known subtypes of the haemorrhagic fever namely; Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Reston (that only affects monkeys) and Ebola Tai (Ivory Coast), according to medical experts.
Ebola has since spread to at least 14 villages. They include Kabango, Ntandi , Butolya, Kikyo, Kizufo, Bugharama, Butantagua , Bulhambago, Bundimwali I, Buyaya, Bugharama II and Bulhambaghiri.
Asked whether they would consider quarantining the district, Mr Kazinga said the situation was still controllable.
Ebola National Task Force Chairman, Dr Sam Okware, said on Friday that the Ministry of Health had dispatched an ambulance and a consignment of personnel protection equipment (PPE) like gloves and disinfectants to help the response team.
He said part of the response team led by Dr Jackson Amone was expected back on Friday. “The team went for among other things to search for the index case which would help us establish the origin of this breed of Ebola,” said Dr Okware, a veteran of many public medical emergencies in Uganda.
Ebola last struck Uganda in October 2000 in the north and parts of Bunyoro region killing 224 people.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publ...ch_Ebola.shtml
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December 2nd, 2007, 06:16 PM
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Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda May Be Spreading
| Ebola: Red Cross sends team to Bundibugyo | | Sunday, 2nd December, 2007 | | By Raymond Baguma
THE Uganda Red Cross Society has sent an assessment team to Bundibugyo district to support the Ministry of Health in containing the deadly Ebola hemorrhagic disease.
A total of 100 volunteers, who participated in containing Ebola in Gulu district in 2000, were also sent to the area following the death of 16 people.
The Red Cross will sensitise the community about the disease through door-to-door sessions as part of the preventive measures.
They also identify suspected Ebola cases and report them to the Ministry of Health, according to a statement issued by the secretary-general, Alice Uwase Anukur.
“As part of our operations, re-integration in the communities will be done to ensure that households with suspected cases are not discriminated within the communities as this causes stigma and psychological torture,” she said.
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http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/600188
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December 2nd, 2007, 06:31 PM
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Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda May Be Spreading
Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Uganda
30 November 2007
The Ministry of Health (MoH), Uganda, has confirmed an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever, in Bundibugyo District, western Uganda. As of 28 November, 51 suspected cases, including 16 deaths have been reported. Among the reported cases, 3 health care workers were also infected, including one fatality. Cases are being hospitalized at Kikyo and Bundibugyo.
Laboratory analysis undertaken at the National Reference Laboratories and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA has confirmed the presence of a new species of Ebola virus in samples taken from cases associated with the outbreak.
Based on initial field investigations, the MoH/WHO Country office has reported that the outbreak might have been ongoing since Sept 2007. A national task force comprising MoH, WHO and other international partners in the field, is coordinating the response to this outbreak. WHO Country office is assisting the MOH national field team and the District health officials.
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_11_30a/en/index.html
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