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. 2018 Mar;23(12):17-00140.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2018.23.12.17-00140.

Field investigation with real-time virus genetic characterisation support of a cluster of Ebola virus disease cases in Dubréka, Guinea, April to June 2015

Alessandro Pini  1   2 , Delayo Zomahoun  3 , Sophie Duraffour  4   5 , Tarik Derrough  1 , Myrna Charles  3 , Joshua Quick  6 , Nick Loman  6 , Lauren Cowley  7 , Mamadou Leno  8 , Nobila Ouedraogo  9 , Oumou Thiam  10 , Alfonso Hernández-Romieu  3 , Annie Iko  3 , Halimatou Keita  10 , Djiba Konate  10 , Aboubacar Aboubak Soumah  10 , Etran Bouchouar  3 , Samuel Ileka-Priouzeau  3 , Sakoba Keita  11 , Boubacar Diallo  10 , Fode Cisse  8 , Josep Jansa  1 , Miles Carroll  12   13 , Stephan Günther  4   5 , Ettore Severi  1 , Pierre Formenty  14
Affiliations

Field investigation with real-time virus genetic characterisation support of a cluster of Ebola virus disease cases in Dubréka, Guinea, April to June 2015

Alessandro Pini et al. Euro Surveill. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

On 11 May 2015, the Dubréka prefecture, Guinea, reported nine laboratory-confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD). None could be epidemiologically linked to cases previously reported in the prefecture. We describe the epidemiological and molecular investigations of this event. We used the Dubréka EVD registers and the Ebola treatment centre's (ETC) records to characterise chains of transmission. Real-time field Ebola virus sequencing was employed to support epidemiological results. An epidemiological cluster of 32 cases was found, of which 27 were laboratory confirmed, 24 were isolated and 20 died. Real-time viral sequencing on 12 cases demonstrated SL3 lineage viruses with sequences differing by one to three nt inside a single phylogenetic cluster. For isolated cases, the average time between symptom onset and ETC referral was 2.8 days (interquartile range (IQR): 1-4). The average time between sample collection and molecular results' availability was 3 days (IQR: 2-5). In an area with scarce resources, the genetic characterisation supported the outbreak investigations in real time, linking cases where epidemiological investigation was limited and reassuring that the responsible strain was already circulating in Guinea. We recommend coupling thorough epidemiological and genomic investigations to control EVD clusters.

Keywords: Ebola virus; Guinea; laboratory surveillance; outbreaks; viral haemorrhagic fever.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chains of transmission among Ebola virus disease cases, Dubréka, Guinea, April–July 2015 (n = 32 cases)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of Ebola virus disease cases by date of symptom onseta, prefecture of Dubréka, Guinea, April–July 2015 (n = 32 cases)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Phylogenetic tree of sequences derived from Ebola virus disease cases, Dubréka, Guinea, April–July 2015 (n = 12 cases)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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