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A Liberian woman who probably contracted the Ebola virus in 2014 may have infected three members of the family one year after being sick. , doctors reported in a study released Monday.
There have been cases of men transmitting Ebola to women through badual transmission – the virus can survive in sperm for more than a year – but the new case is the first time the Ebola virus it's spread after a prolonged period.
The rare possibility of spreading Ebola long after infection underscores the importance of monitoring survivors, particularly with the imminent end of the recent outbreak of the disease in Congo. The latest outbreak in this country, announced in May, has so far recorded 38 confirmed cases, including 14 deaths. It should be declared content Wednesday, which will mark 42 days, or two incubation periods, since the last case was recorded.
"The Ebola virus is hiding in places where it can escape antibodies to the body's immune system, so there is a need for vigilance," said Dr. David Heymann, professor of infectious diseases at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which was not related to new research.
Unusual group of cases in Liberia was identified after the 15-year-old woman's son was diagnosed with Ebola in November 2015. Scientists then tested the rest of his family: the wife, her husband and their three youngest sons.
The 15-year-old died a few days later.The father and a boy of 8 years were positive for Ebola, but both have recovered.The couple's five-year-old son was not infected.
Doctors found Ebola antibodies in mother's bad milk and her 2-month-old baby, suggesting previous infection and possible to give protection to his baby. The researchers reported genetic similarities between the viruses taken from the father, the two boys and the strain circulating during the 2014-2015 epidemic in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, which eventually killed more than 11 000 people in the largest Ebola outbreak in history
Scientists have discovered that the woman had taken care of his brother in July 2014, who died after suffering symptoms similar to those of the Ebola virus, but before being tested for the disease. The woman later experienced a similar illness, but never sought care.
Several weeks after giving birth to a baby in September 2015, the woman developed problems such as fatigue and breathing difficulties. Doctors say that because pregnancy lowers the body's immune defenses, it may have allowed the Ebola virus to reappear.
"The suspicious disease that she had after childbirth could have been a reactivation of Ebola, but we have no confirmation." Said Dr. Emily Kainne Dokubo , who led the Ebola response in Liberia for the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the lead author of the study, with Ebola when they took care of her – The disease normally spreads by contact with the blood of an infected patient or other bodily fluids.The case report was published online Monday in the journal Lancet.
"It does not occur. There is no complete evidence to reconstruct what happened, but that is the most likely scenario, "says Lorenzo Subissi, Epidemiologist at Sciensano.
Dokubo said such cases of re-emergence Ebola are exceptional, with only two cases reported: a Scottish nurse who developed meningitis caused p Ebola virus in his brain and an American doctor who had persistent viruses. in his eye. In both cases, the virus did not spread further.
"We do not want that there is a sense of complacency with people who think that just because the outbreak is over, there is nothing left to do," says Dokubo. . "There is a risk of viral persistence and people should immediately consult so that they can immediately detect any suspicious cases and stop a larger epidemic."
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