Lassa fever, Marburg and Ebola virus diseases and other exotic diseases: is there a risk to Canada?

Abstract

There are seven exotic diseases of concern; three of these, the most unpredictable and least understood, are Lassa fever, Marburg virus disease and Ebola virus disease. In this article the epidemiologic aspects of these diseases are discussed, with particular emphasis on exportation from their indigenous areas in Africa and on the occurrence of secondary cases. Any of these conditions could be brought into Canada either by aeromedical evacuation or inadvertently. Between 1972 and 1978 there were seven occasions when Canada could have been involved with handling cases of Lassa fever. The Government of Canada has purchased several containment bed and transit isolators. These units, with filtered air under negative pressure, accommodate infectious patients being transported and cared for without contaminating medical attendants or the environment.