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Nomenclature- and database-compatible names for the two Ebola virus variants that emerged in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014.

ABSTRACT: In 2014, Ebola virus (EBOV) was identified as the etiological agent of a large and still expanding outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa and a much more confined EVD outbreak in Middle Africa. Epidemiological and evolutionary analyses confirmed that all cases of both outbreaks are connected to a single introduction each of EBOV into human populations and that both outbreaks are not directly connected. Coding-complete genomic sequence analyses of isolates revealed that the two outbreaks were caused by two novel EBOV variants, and initial clinical observations suggest that neither of them should be considered strains. Here we present consensus decisions on naming for both variants (West Africa: "Makona", Middle Africa: "Lomela") and provide database-compatible full, shortened, and abbreviated names that are in line with recently established filovirus sub-species nomenclatures.

SUBMITTER: Kuhn JH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4246247 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Nomenclature- and database-compatible names for the two Ebola virus variants that emerged in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014.

Kuhn Jens H JH Andersen Kristian G KG Baize Sylvain S Bào Yīmíng Y Bavari Sina S Berthet Nicolas N Blinkova Olga O Brister J Rodney JR Clawson Anna N AN Fair Joseph J Gabriel Martin M Garry Robert F RF Gire Stephen K SK Goba Augustine A Gonzalez Jean-Paul JP Günther Stephan S Happi Christian T CT Jahrling Peter B PB Kapetshi Jimmy J Kobinger Gary G Kugelman Jeffrey R JR Leroy Eric M EM Maganga Gael Darren GD Mbala Placide K PK Moses Lina M LM Muyembe-Tamfum Jean-Jacques JJ N'Faly Magassouba M Nichol Stuart T ST Omilabu Sunday A SA Palacios Gustavo G Park Daniel J DJ Paweska Janusz T JT Radoshitzky Sheli R SR Rossi Cynthia A CA Sabeti Pardis C PC Schieffelin John S JS Schoepp Randal J RJ Sealfon Rachel R Swanepoel Robert R Towner Jonathan S JS Wada Jiro J Wauquier Nadia N Yozwiak Nathan L NL Formenty Pierre P

Viruses 20141124 11

In 2014, Ebola virus (EBOV) was identified as the etiological agent of a large and still expanding outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa and a much more confined EVD outbreak in Middle Africa. Epidemiological and evolutionary analyses confirmed that all cases of both outbreaks are connected to a single introduction each of EBOV into human populations and that both outbreaks are not directly connected. Coding-complete genomic sequence analyses of isolates revealed that the two outb ...[more]

PMID: 25421896

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Project description:BackgroundTetanus is a potentially fatal disease that is preventable through vaccination. While the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has continued to improve implementing routine vaccination activities throughout the country, they have struggled to maintain high childhood vaccine coverage. This study aims to examine the seroprevalence of tetanus in children 6 to 59 months to identify areas for intervention and improvement of vaccination coverage.MethodsIn collaboration with the 2013-2014 Demographic and Health Survey, we assessed the seroprevalence of tetanus antibodies among children in the DRC. Dried blood spot samples collected from children 6-59 months of age were processed using a prototype DYNEX Multiplier® chemiluminescent automated immunoassay instrument with a multiplex measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and tetanus assay. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with tetanus vaccination and seroprotection.ResultsOverall, 36.1% of children 6-59 months of age reported receiving at least 1 dose of tetanus vaccine while 28.7% reported receiving 3 doses; tetanus seroprotection was 40%. Increasing age in children was associated with decreased tetanus seroprotection, but increased number tetanus vaccinations received. Factors related to increased tetanus seroprotection included number of children in the household, wealth index of the family, urban residence compared to rural, level of maternal education, and province and geography.ConclusionsOur findings in this nationally representative sample indicate that serology biomarkers may help identify children who are not fully immunized to tetanus more accurately than reported vaccination. While children may be captured for routine immunization activities, as children age, decreasing seroprevalence may indicate additional need to bolster routine vaccination activities and documentation of vaccination in school aged children. Additionally, the study highlights gaps in rural residential areas and vaccination coverage based on maternal education, indicating that policies targeting maternal education and awareness could improve the coverage and seroprevalence of tetanus antibodies in the DRC.

Project description:BackgroundThe 2018-2019 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the largest ever recorded in the DRC. It has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The outbreak emerged in a region of chronic conflict and insecurity, and directed attacks against health care workers may have interfered with disease response activities. Our study characterizes and quantifies the broader conflict dynamics over the course of the outbreak by pairing epidemiological and all available spatial conflict data.MethodsWe build a set of conflict variables by mapping the spatial locations of all conflict events and their associated deaths in each of the affected health zones in North Kivu and Ituri, eastern DRC, before and during the outbreak. Using these data, we compare patterns of conflict before and during the outbreak in affected health zones and those not affected. We then test whether conflict is correlated with increased EVD transmission at the health zone level.FindingsThe incidence of conflict events per capita is ~?600 times more likely in Ituri and North Kivu than for the rest of the DRC. We identified 15 time periods of substantial uninterrupted transmission across 11 health zones and a total of 120 bi-weeks. We do not find significant short-term associations between the bi-week reproduction numbers and the number of conflicts. However, we do find that the incidence of conflict per capita was correlated with the incidence of EVD per capita at the health zone level for the entire outbreak (Pearson's r?=?0.33, 95% CI 0.05-0.57). In the two provinces, the monthly number of conflict events also increased by a factor of 2.7 in Ebola-affected health zones (p value <?0.05) compared to 2.0 where no transmission was reported and 1.3 in the rest of the DRC, in the period between February 2019 and July 2019.ConclusionWe characterized the association between variables documenting broad conflict levels and EVD transmission. Such assessment is important to understand if and how such conflict variables could be used to inform the outbreak response. We found that while these variables can help characterize long-term challenges and susceptibilities of the different regions they provide little insight on the short-term dynamics of EVD transmission.

Dataset Information

Nomenclature- and database-compatible names for the two Ebola virus variants that emerged in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014.

Publications

Nomenclature- and database-compatible names for the two Ebola virus variants that emerged in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014.

Similar Datasets

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