A historical perspective on Ebola response and prevention

[SidDithers]

http://scienceblogs.com/aetiology/2014/08/07/a-historical-perspective-on-ebola-response-and-prevention/

More awesome information from Tara Smith.

Yambuku, Zaire, 1976. A new disease was spreading through the population. Patients were overcome by headaches and bloody diarrhea. The disease was spreading through entire families and wiping them out.

Eight hundred and twenty-five kilometers to the northeast, a similar epidemic was reportedly raging across the border in Maridi, Sudan. Were these outbreaks connected? Despite enormous challenges trying to navigate both the logistics of crossing a landscape of unpaved and unmarked roads, as well as the political difficulties of an attempt to enter and collect samples in an area marked by recent civil strife, samples were finally collected and shipped to the World Health Organization for testing.

All told, these outbreaks caused 602 cases and 431 deaths. The Zaire outbreak wasn’t stopped until the hospital was closed, because 11 of its 17 workers (65%) had died of the disease. Investigators went door-to-door in 550 villages in the Yambuku area to find and isolate new cases. Roadblocks were set up to restrict access to the area.

In Sudan, a number of cases were traced to workers in a cotton factory (probably due to bat exposure) and their families. The epidemic increased when one case went to the Maridi hospital, and the virus then was transmitted within that hospital. Note what the write-up describes:

“The hospital served as an efficient amplifier from which the virus was disseminated throughout the town. The number of cases gradually increased until mid-September and at the end of the month there was a large number of cases, particularly in hospital staff. The number of cases declined in early October, possibly as a result of the use of protective clothing. A considerable increase in the number of cases was observed in late October and early November, which may have been partly due to a lack of protective clothing when supplies ran out in mid-October.”

In Maridi, the doctor-in-charge, along with 61 members of the nursing staff came down with Ebola. Thirty-three of them died. Eight additional deaths occurred among the ancillary and cleaning staff. This outbreak was only contained because, again, the hospital was made safer via extensive training and the use of good personal protective equipment, and cases were identified in the town by going door-to-door. Buy-in from local officials was obtained, which is critical–while families may not trust outsiders, they more often will listen to local leaders. Cases were isolated in their homes or taken to the hospital. Eventually every village in a 30-mile radius from Maridi was screened, and the outbreak burned out.

Now imagine you’re looking at this in real time, via 24-hour news networks, from halfway across the world. You’re hearing news reports of cases spiking. Healthcare workers are contracting the disease. You don’t have all the information but you’re coming to your own conclusion that the virus must be mutating in Sudan.

You would, however, be wrong.

Sid

[longship]

1. Tara Smith is a good one.

She's smart and talented.