Viewpoint: Filovirus haemorrhagic fever outbreaks:much ado about nothing?

Borchert, Matthias; Boelaert, Marleen; Sleurs, Hilde; Muyembe‐Tamfum, Jean‐Jacques; Pirard, Patricia; Colebunders, Robert; Stuyft, Patrick Van der; Groen, G van der

doi:10.1046/j.1365-3156.2000.00556.x

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The Ebola virus first emerged in two separate outbreaks in 1976 in southern Sudan and northern Zaire [13]. Since then, several more outbreaks have been recorded [15]. The last outbreak caused by the Ebola virus took place in Gabon and the Republic of Congo; it started at the end of 2001, affected 122 humans and lasted till May 2002 [16].…”

Section: Encroachment Into Wildlife Habitatsthe Example Of Ebolamentioning

confidence: 99%

Viral Zoonoses – A Threat under Control?

et al. 2003

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Despite intensive research and considerable effort to eradicate infectious diseases, modern medicine has failed to control many infectious diseases which have been thought to be easy to overcome with advances in medical science and technology. In fact, infectious diseases remain a dominant feature in public health considerations for the 21st century. Some infectious agents already known to be pathogenic have gained increasing importance in recent decades due to changes in disease patterns. Furthermore, many new, previously unknown infectious agents with a high pathogenic potential have been identified. Nearly all of these emergent disease episodes have involved zoonotic or species-jumping infectious agents. The complex interaction of factors like environmental and ecological changes, social factors, decline of health care, human demographics and behaviour influences the emergence of re-emergence of such diseases. Viruses, especially RNA viruses with their ability to adapt quickly to changing environmental conditions, are among the most prominent examples of emerging pathogens. In this review, we present the important examples of zoonotic viruses and discuss the factors playing a key role in the emergence and resurgence of these diseases.

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Section: Encroachment Into Wildlife Habitatsthe Example Of Ebolamentioning

confidence: 99%

Viral Zoonoses – A Threat under Control?

et al. 2003

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“…This partly explains why research on the biology, epidemiology, ecology and pathophysiology of these viruses has advanced markedly over the past 15 years, leading recently to the development of potential antiviral drugs and candidate vaccines. Yet the overall disease burden of filoviruses over the past 45 years is minimal compared with major infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, cholera, dengue and tuberculosis [7,8]. This paper reviews research advances in Ebola and Marburg ecology, virus–host interactions and disease control during the past 15 years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ebola and Marburg haemorrhagic fever viruses: major scientific advances, but a relatively minor public health threat for Africa

Leroy

Gonzalez

Baize

2011

Clinical Microbiology and Infection

130

108

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Ebola and Marburg viruses are the only members of the Filoviridae family (order Mononegavirales), a group of viruses characterized by a linear, non-segmented, single-strand negative RNA genome. They are among the most virulent pathogens for humans and great apes, causing acute haemorrhagic fever and death within a matter of days. Since their discovery 50 years ago, filoviruses have caused only a few outbreaks, with 2317 clinical cases and 1671 confirmed deaths, which is negligible compared with the devastation caused by malnutrition and other infectious diseases prevalent in Africa (malaria, cholera, AIDS, dengue, tuberculosis …). Yet considerable human and financial resourses have been devoted to research on these viruses during the past two decades, partly because of their potential use as bioweapons. As a result, our understanding of the ecology, host interactions, and control of these viruses has improved considerably.

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“…These patterns are emphasized because it may be difficult to generate alarm or management action for diseases which appear to have low virulence in the short term; however, these chronic diseases may be very influential for determining the long‐term health of regional host metapopulations. The phenomenon that chronic diseases can lead to higher sustained disease prevalence within host populations is widely recognized in epidemiology and may contribute, for example, to why HIV (a chronic infection) has become persistent at high prevalence in some human populations while Ebola (an acutely lethal disease with a high case fatality rate) mainly occurs in rare and sporadic, small‐scale epidemics (Borchert et al . 2000; Levin et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…however, these chronic diseases may be very influential for determining the long-term health of regional host metapopulations. The phenomenon that chronic diseases can lead to higher sustained disease prevalence within host populations is widely recognized in epidemiology and may contribute, for example, to why HIV (a chronic infection) has become persistent at high prevalence in some human populations while Ebola (an acutely lethal disease with a high case fatality rate) mainly occurs in rare and sporadic, small-scale epidemics (Borchert et al 2000;Levin et al 2001). Our results support the prediction that if future climate scenarios allow marine pathogens to survive better in the ocean, through sea-surface warming or less severe winters, longer and more severe outbreaks may be expected.…”

Section: W H a T F A C T O R S A F F E C T O V E R A L L R E G I O N mentioning

confidence: 99%

Editor's choice: Disease dynamics in marine metapopulations: modelling infectious diseases on coral reefs

Sokolow¹,

Foley

Foley³

et al. 2009

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary 1.Coral reefs are experiencing devastating mortality due, in part, to emerging disease. Despite this growing problem, the long-term consequences of infectious disease in marine ecosystems remain poorly understood, and the application of epidemiological models to marine disease systems represents a research priority for managing resources in the world's oceans. 2. Metapopulation models may provide a framework for modelling coral population dynamics at the regional scale, and we use this approach to investigate the effects of infectious disease. The model presented here incorporates a susceptible-infected or 'S-I' disease into a system of patchily distributed, dynamic coral hosts, and highlights some basic differences that set many marine disease systems apart from their terrestrial counterparts. 3. The model predicts several possible long-term outcomes of disease introduction, and suggests that the consequences of disease may vary considerably among different pathogens and regions. Due to the long time-scales for coral dynamics, epizootics are expected to be prolonged with recovery slow at the regional scale. 4. Our model results show how infectious disease can substantially alter host metapopulation dynamics, with some non-linear relationships which are likely to affect the response of these systems to management and environmental change. For example, higher rates of coral colonization can have variable consequences for host population occupancy (i.e. coral cover) when infectious disease is considered, and chronic diseases with long-lived pathogens pose the highest risks for regional coral extinction. 5. Synthesis and applications. We present a tractable epidemiological model within a metapopulation framework and compare the model output with empirical data for a white plague type II (WPII) outbreak among coral of the upper Florida Keys. We conclude that this model fits well with the spatial and temporal patterns of WPII over a decade. Despite terrestrial-marine differences, many patterns derived from our model are consistent with epidemiological principles. Thus, the careful application of these principles within the context of marine management may be a promising research frontier. Although we focus on coral disease, the methods and results may apply to other marine metapopulations.

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Viewpoint: Filovirus haemorrhagic fever outbreaks:much ado about nothing?

Cited by 4 publications

References 32 publications

Viral Zoonoses – A Threat under Control?

Viral Zoonoses – A Threat under Control?

Ebola and Marburg haemorrhagic fever viruses: major scientific advances, but a relatively minor public health threat for Africa

Editor's choice: Disease dynamics in marine metapopulations: modelling infectious diseases on coral reefs

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