Ebola: separating fact
from fiction
Dr Siouxsie Wiles
Senior LecturerDept. Molecular Medicine & Pathology
University of Auckland
@SiouxsieWwww.sciblogs.co.nz/infectious-thoughts
What is Ebola?
https://engtechmag.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/ebola-infographic.jpg
Image: FA Murphy CDC
What are the symptoms?
Incubation period
References: Leroy et al (2011) Clin Microbiol Infect. 17(7):964-76. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2011.03535.x.Towner et al. (2008) PLoS Pathog 4(11): e1000212. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1000212Image credit: http://www.vidiani.com/?p=10953
5 ‘types’ of Ebola
How is Ebola spread?
http://www.euronews.com/2014/08/14/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-ebola-virus/
Why bats?
Why bats?2147 bats belonging to at least nine species sampled between 2003 and 2008 in
three regions of Gabon and in the Ebola epidemic region of north Congo
Reference: Pourrut et al (2009). BMC Infect Dis. 9:159. doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-9-159.
Why bats?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao0dqJvH4a0
How contagious is Ebola?
Airborne?
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/pdf/infections-spread-by-air-or-droplets.pdf
“But those experiments…..”
Droplet spread
http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/121115/srep00811/full/srep00811.html
Days post infection
No overt clinical disease….
Six Four-week old piglets oronasally inoculated
Had to be euthanised….
Days post exposure
Macaques housed in individual cages inside the pig pen
Reston in pigs
How to tell if you have Ebola
Ebola in west Africa
http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1404505
Ebola in west Africa
How did the outbreak start?
http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1404505
Where has the outbreak spread to?
How many cases to date?
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/case-counts.html
Ebola deaths in west Africa
http://ebolacount.com/#death-count
New case in Mali
Reference: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/24-october-2014/en/
Image credit: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/africa/mali/
How many doctors?
http://www.vox.com/2014/10/24/7059743/why-is-ebola-virus-outbreak-american-africa-nina-pham
Gomes MFC et al (2014). PLOS Currents Outbreaks. doi: 10.1371/currents.outbreaks.cd818f63d40e24aef769dda7df9e0da5.
Will it spread to NZ? Unlikely!
http://news.softpedia.com/news/World-Health-Organization-OKs-Ebola-Drug-Trials-457419.shtml
Experimental treatments/vaccines
‘Pharming’ - ZMapp
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/guinea/qa-experimental-treatments.html
Image credits: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Monoclonals.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nicoatiana_benthamiana_plant.jpg
ZMapp
Homeopathy petition
My response!
http://bit.ly/1yP9uy4
Homeopathy in Liberia
eRemedy?!
http://www.plosntds.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0003056
Further reading!