News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – A case of the often deadly Marburg hemorrhagic fever was retrospectively identified in an American who fell ill after a trip to Uganda in January 2008 and eventually recovered, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported recently.

The case appears to be the first Marburg infection reported in the United States.

(CIDRAP News) – Health officials in the Philippines recently announced that a worker who had contact with sick pigs tested positive for antibodies to the Ebola Reston virus, a pathogen that was discovered about a month ago for the first time in pigs.

Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Centre, said the case represent the first known pig-to-human Ebola Reston virus transmission, according to a Jan 24 Associated Press (AP) report.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported that laboratory officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have confirmed a third case of Ebola hemorrhagic fever.

Laboratory analysis was performed at the DRC's national lab in Kinshasa, a lab in Franceville, Gabon, and at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa, according to a Jan 2 statement from the WHO.

Editor's note: This story was revised Dec 30 to make clear that as of Dec 29, only two cases in the outbreak had been confirmed as Ebola. During the DRC's 2007 outbreak the government confirmed 17 cases, down from 25 it reported earlier, and initial reports during that outbreak mentioned as many as 395 suspected Ebola cases.  Some of the suspected patients had other diseases, including shigellosis.