scholarly journals Virus genomes reveal the factors that spread and sustained the West African Ebola epidemic

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gytis Dudas ◽  
Luiz Max Carvalho ◽  
Trevor Bedford ◽  
Andrew J. Tatem ◽  
Guy Baele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
West African ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Viral Movement ◽  
History Of ◽  
Virus Genomes ◽  
History Of Migration ◽  
Entire Dataset

SummaryThe 2013-2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease in West Africa was of unprecedented magnitude, duration and impact. Extensive collaborative sequencing projects have produced a large collection of over 1600 Ebola virus genomes, representing over 5% of known cases, unmatched for any single human epidemic. In this comprehensive analysis of this entire dataset, we reconstruct in detail the history of migration, proliferation and decline of Ebola virus throughout the region. We test the association of geography, climate, administrative boundaries, demography and culture with viral movement among 56 administrative regions. Our results show that during the outbreak viral lineages moved according to a classic ‘gravity’ model, with more intense migration between larger and more proximate population centers. Notably, we find that despite a strong attenuation of international dispersal after border closures, localized cross-border transmission beforehand had already set the seeds for an international epidemic, rendering these measures relatively ineffective in curbing the epidemic. We use this empirical evidence to address why the epidemic did not spread into neighboring countries, showing that although these regions were susceptible to developing significant outbreaks, they were also at lower risk of viral introductions. Finally, viral genome sequence data uniquely reveals this large epidemic to be a heterogeneous and spatially dissociated collection of transmission clusters of varying size, duration and connectivity. These insights will help inform approaches to intervention in such epidemics in the future.

Roles and strategies of international humanitarian organisations in handling the Liberia Ebola outbreak

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Bainga Kangbai ◽  
Ahmed Alameldeen
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
West African ◽  
World Health ◽  
Healthcare Personnel ◽  
African Countries ◽  
History Of ◽  
Public Health Emergency Preparedness

Abstract Background In Early August 2014, the World Health Organisation declared an Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in the region of West Africa. The West African EVD outbreak was the largest, most severe, and complex in the nearly four-decade history of this disease. The management of EVD cases in Liberia was similar to the other affected West African countries. Methods We reviewed the method and strategies used by some of the international humanitarian organisations in handling the 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak in Liberia. This report is a collection of personal field experiences in Liberia as well as personal interviews of healthcare personnel working for some of these international organisations working on the Ebola emergency in Liberia. Findings Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was the first humanitarian NGO to deploy medical staff to the field in Liberia during the 2013-2016 EVD outbreak. MSF staffs were already operating in Liberia even before the declaration of the outbreak in August 2014.Conclusions The slow response by the international humanitarian organisations to lend their support in bringing the EVD outbreak to and exhibited the fear the international community have for deadly infectious diseases more than armed conflicts.Recommendations We recommend regularly training in public health emergency preparedness for third world countries that are highly susceptible to health emergencies such as Ebola outbreak to help prepared them ahead of such outbreak.

Medina Gounass: Constructing Extra-National Space in a West African Borderland

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
David Newman Glovsky
Keyword(s):  
Islamic Law ◽  
West African ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
National Space ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
History Of ◽  
Postcolonial Africa ◽  
Postcolonial States ◽  
The Town

Abstract The historical autonomy of the religious community of Medina Gounass in Senegal represents an alternative geographic territory to that of colonial and postcolonial states. The borderland location of Medina Gounass allowed the town to detach itself from colonial and independent Senegal, creating parallel governmental structures and imposing a particular interpretation of Islamic law. While in certain facets this autonomy was limited, the community was able to distance itself through immigration, cross-border religious ties, and smuggling. Glovsky’s analysis of the history of Medina Gounass offers a case study for the multiplicity of geographical and territorial entities in colonial and postcolonial Africa.

scholarly journals A Mathematical Model of Contact Tracing during the 2014–2016 West African Ebola Outbreak

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 608
Author(s):  
Danielle Burton ◽  
Suzanne Lenhart ◽  
Christina J. Edholm ◽  
Benjamin Levy ◽  
Michael L. Washington ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Disease Management ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Infected Individual ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
West African ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Using Data

The 2014–2016 West African outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) was the largest and most deadly to date. Contact tracing, following up those who may have been infected through contact with an infected individual to prevent secondary spread, plays a vital role in controlling such outbreaks. Our aim in this work was to mechanistically represent the contact tracing process to illustrate potential areas of improvement in managing contact tracing efforts. We also explored the role contact tracing played in eventually ending the outbreak. We present a system of ordinary differential equations to model contact tracing in Sierra Leonne during the outbreak. Using data on cumulative cases and deaths, we estimate most of the parameters in our model. We include the novel features of counting the total number of people being traced and tying this directly to the number of tracers doing this work. Our work highlights the importance of incorporating changing behavior into one’s model as needed when indicated by the data and reported trends. Our results show that a larger contact tracing program would have reduced the death toll of the outbreak. Counting the total number of people being traced and including changes in behavior in our model led to better understanding of disease management.

scholarly journals Equine-Origin Immunoglobulin Fragments Protect Nonhuman Primates from Ebola Virus Disease

2018 ◽  
Vol 93 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hualei Wang ◽  
Gary Wong ◽  
Wenjun Zhu ◽  
Shihua He ◽  
Yongkun Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Hemorrhagic Fever ◽  
West African ◽  
Clinical Testing ◽  
The Past ◽  
Over 40 Years

ABSTRACT Ebola virus (EBOV) infections result in aggressive hemorrhagic fever in humans, with fatality rates reaching 90% and with no licensed specific therapeutics to treat ill patients. Advances over the past 5 years have firmly established monoclonal antibody (MAb)-based products as the most promising therapeutics for treating EBOV infections, but production is costly and quantities are limited; therefore, MAbs are not the best candidates for mass use in the case of an epidemic. To address this need, we generated EBOV-specific polyclonal F(ab′)2 fragments from horses hyperimmunized with an EBOV vaccine. The F(ab′)2 was found to potently neutralize West African and Central African EBOV in vitro. Treatment of nonhuman primates (NHPs) with seven doses of 100 mg/kg F(ab′)2 beginning 3 or 5 days postinfection (dpi) resulted in a 100% survival rate. Notably, NHPs for which treatment was initiated at 5 dpi were already highly viremic, with observable signs of EBOV disease, which demonstrated that F(ab′)2 was still effective as a therapeutic agent even in symptomatic subjects. These results show that F(ab′)2 should be advanced for clinical testing in preparation for future EBOV outbreaks and epidemics. IMPORTANCE EBOV is one of the deadliest viruses to humans. It has been over 40 years since EBOV was first reported, but no cure is available. Research breakthroughs over the past 5 years have shown that MAbs constitute an effective therapy for EBOV infections. However, MAbs are expensive and difficult to produce in large amounts and therefore may only play a limited role during an epidemic. A cheaper alternative is required, especially since EBOV is endemic in several third world countries with limited medical resources. Here, we used a standard protocol to produce large amounts of antiserum F(ab′)2 fragments from horses vaccinated with an EBOV vaccine, and we tested the protectiveness in monkeys. We showed that F(ab′)2 was effective in 100% of monkeys even after the animals were visibly ill with EBOV disease. Thus, F(ab′)2 could be a very good option for large-scale treatments of patients and should be advanced to clinical testing.

Accelerating Vaccine Development During the 2013–2016 West African Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak

2017 ◽  
pp. 229-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth S. Higgs ◽  
Sheri A. Dubey ◽  
Beth A. G. Coller ◽  
Jakub K. Simon ◽  
Laura Bollinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Disease Outbreak ◽  
West African ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease

scholarly journals The Healthcare Providers-Patients Relationship and State Obligations in Times of Public Health Emergency

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 268-298
Author(s):  
Gloria C. Nwafor ◽  
Anthony O. Nwafor
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
West African ◽  
The State ◽  
The West ◽  
State Obligations

The recent outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (evd) in the West African sub-region sprung challenges on the healthcare providers in the observance of their ethical rules in dealing with their patients and the State in fulfilling its obligations to ensure that the rights of patients are respected in times of public health emergency. The ethical rules of medical practice demand that the healthcare providers prefer the interests of their patients to the preservation of self. The State is by law under obligation to protect and respect the rights of the patients in all situations. The paper argues that the responses by the healthcare providers and the States in the West African sub region in the wake of the public health emergency fell short of the demands of the ethical rules of the medical profession and the obligation to ensure that the rights of the patients are respected.

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