Development of a highly sensitive, field operable biosensor for serological studies of Ebola virus in central Africa.

We describe herein a newly developed optical immunosensor for detection of antibodies directed against antigens of the Ebola virus strains Zaire and Sudan. We employed a photo immobilization methodology based on a photoactivatable electrogenerated poly(pyrrole-benzophenone) film deposited upon an indium tin oxide (ITO) modified conductive surface fiber-optic. It was then linked to a biological receptor, Ebola virus antigen in this case, on the fiber tip through a light driven reaction.

Isolations of Bwamba virus from south central Uganda and north eastern Tanzania.

Background: Bwamba virus (Genus Bunyavirus, family Bunyaviridae) is widely distributed in Africa. It causes many unidentified fevers because of its benign nature.

Objectives: Samples of blood from patients were received at Uganda Virus Research Institute for diagnosis and confirmation of infections.

An outbreak of Ebola in Uganda.

An outbreak of Ebola disease was reported from Gulu district, Uganda, on 8 October 2000. The outbreak was characterized by fever and haemorrhagic manifestations, and affected health workers and the general population of Rwot-Obillo, a village 14 km north of Gulu town. Later, the outbreak spread to other parts of the country including Mbarara and Masindi districts.

O'nyong-nyong fever in south-central Uganda, 1996-1997: clinical features and validation of a clinical case definition for surveillance purposes.

O'nyong-nyong (ONN) fever, caused by infection with a mosquito-borne central African alphavirus, is an acute, nonfatal illness characterized by polyarthralgia. During 1996-1997, south-central Uganda experienced the second ONN fever epidemic ever recognized. Among 391 persons interviewed and sampled, 40 cases of confirmed and 21 of presumptive, well-characterized acute, recent, or previous ONN fever were identified through active case-finding efforts or during a household serosurvey and by the application of clinical and laboratory criteria.

O'nyong-nyong fever in south-central Uganda, 1996-1997: description of the epidemic and results of a household-based seroprevalence survey.

O'nyong-nyong (ONN) fever, an acute, nonfatal illness characterized by polyarthralgia, is caused by infection with a mosquito-borne central African alphavirus. During 1996-1997, south-central Uganda experienced the second ONN fever epidemic ever recognized. During January and early February 1997, active case-finding and a household cluster serosurvey were conducted in two affected and two comparison areas.

Emergence of epidemic O'nyong-nyong fever in Uganda after a 35-year absence: genetic characterization of the virus.

O'nyong-nyong (ONN) virus is an alphavirus (family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus) classified in the Semliki Forest virus (SFV) antigenic complex. ONN was initially isolated in northern Uganda in 1959 during the early stages of an explosive arbovirus epidemic in which > 2 million cases were reported. No additional epidemics or human isolations of ONN were reported until 1996, when it was isolated from an epidemic in southern Uganda.