Epidemiology: Open Access
Open Access

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-pressuresuit-
biosafety-level-4 facility in Africa. Thirty-seven people amongst which 24 returning citizens and 5 immigrated or medevacuated
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 August2014; 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.

Biography

Veerle Msimang is a bio-engineer, from Ghent University with a Master of Science in Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health, from University of London Royal
Veterinary College. She has worked on a number of animal production development and disease research projects in Singapore, South Africa, Ecuador and
Madagascar. She is now epidemiologist for the Centre for Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg,
South Africa, which she joined since 2007. She has authored and contributed to various publications in infectious disease epidemiology and is a growing expert in
the epidemiology of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases.