Epidemiology & Public Health

Biography

Biography: Veerle Msimang

Abstract

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases has implemented support to fighting the West Africa\'s 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic and to preventing virus introduction within RSA. The NICD is the only institute to operate positive-pressure-suit-biosafety-level-4 facility in Africa. Thirty-seven people amongst which 24 returning citizens and 5 immigrated or med-evacuated foreigners from RSA’s borders or health-care-facilities and 8 patients with samples sent by African countries to RSA were tested for EV infection. Sixteen people had been in countries with intense local EVD transmission (9 in Sierra Leone, 5 in Liberia, 2 in Guinea), four from countries with reported localised transmission i.e. Nigeria (3), or reported case(s) i.e. Senegal (1), nine from DRC that experienced unrelated EVD outbreak in August 2014; five patients with travel history in African countries with no reported EVD and three with travel unknown. Eight people had travelled to West Africa or DRC (1) for health or laboratory related work purpose. Half of the samples were submitted in Oct. and Dec.-Jan. following months of peak EVD activity in West Africa, in Sept-Oct. and Nov.-Dec. No more patients have been tested since March 2015 following the marked decrease of outbreak. No cases of EVD have been confirmed in the RSA or neighbouring African countries. Ten patients were however confirmed with malaria, three with dengue, one with parvovirus infection and two Nigerian patients had sickle cell anaemia, a common hereditary condition in the Nigerian population. Nine of the investigated cases of which two malaria were known to be fatal.