Seldom have medical anthropologists been involved in efforts to control high mortality diseases such as Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) This paper describes the results of two distinct but complementary interventions during the first phases of an outbreak in the Republic of Congo in 2003. The first approach emphasized understanding local peoples cultural models and political-economic explanations...

This study describes the epidemiology of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in the past 10 yr (2001-2010) in Korea. During this period, a total of 3,953 HFRS patients and an average prevalence rate of 0.81 per 100,000 population were recorded, with a total of 40 fatal cases, corresponding to a case fatality rate of 1.01%. More HFRS cases were found in men than in women (57% vs 43%), a...

As part of ongoing arbovirus surveillance, we screened ticks obtained from livestock in northeastern Kenya in 2008 to assess the risk for human exposure to tick-borne viruses. Of 1,144 pools of 8,600 Hyalomma spp. ticks screened for Congo-Crimean hemorrhagic fever virus by reverse transcription PCR, 23 pools were infected, demonstrating a potential for human exposure.

Viruses in the genus Hantavirus can cause one of two serious illnesses when transmitted from rodents to humans: hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) or hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Of the two diseases, HPS is more severe with an approximate 40% mortality across the Americas. The high rate of mortality could be reduced if effective therapeutics could be discovered for treatment o...

BACKGROUND A major challenge to outbreak control lies in early detection of viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) in local community contexts during the critical initial stages of an epidemic, when risk of spreading is its highest ("the first mile"). In this paper we document how a major Ebola outbreak control effort in central Uganda in 2012 was experienced from the perspective of the community. We...

The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge levels of students in the Midwifery and Nursing Departments of the School of Health Sciences in Kahramanmaras Sutcuimam University (KSU) about Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) and to examine the factors influencing those knowledge levels. The study was conducted between April-June 2009 in the School of Health Sciences, KSU, Turkey. All ...

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is a serious human disease of zoonotic viral origin. A group of different viruses that belong to the family of hemorrhagic fever could represent with HFRS. The basic pathophysiologic feature is virus-induced leaky microcirculation. There is no effective antiviral treatment against them. Because of rapid environmental changes, global warming, and incr...

INTRODUCTION Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is endemic in southeast Iran. In this study we present the epidemiological features of CCHF and its relationship with climate factors in over a 13-year span. METHODOLOGY Surveillance system data of CCHF from 2000 to 2012 were obtained from the Province Health Centre of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences in southeast Iran. The climate dat...

We compared the mortality rate among patients suspected of having Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) who received treatment with oral ribavirin and those who did not. Ninety-seven (69.8%) of 139 treated patients suspected of having CCHF survived, and 61 (88.9%) of 69 treated patients with confirmed CCHF survived. The efficacy of oral ribavirin was 80% among patients with confirmed CCHF and ...

Dobrava-Belgrade virus (DOBV) is a European hantavirus that causes hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS); case-fatality rates in Balkan countries are as high as 12%. To determine causative agents, we examined 126 cases of DOBV-associated HFRS in central and southern European Russia. In central Russia (Lipetsk, Voronezh, Orel regions), outbreaks were caused by a DOBV variant (DOBV-Aa) car...