Kelfala Konneh

Ministry of Health and Sanitation

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Antonino Di

European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Alì Mirazimi

Karolinska Institutet

Daniel P. Bailey

Brunel University of London

Mirella Biava

Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani

Lisa E. Hensley

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine

G. Cataldi

Associazione Italiana Vulvodinia Onlus

Marion Koopmans

Erasmus University Rotterdam

A. Petrocelli

Associazione Italiana Vulvodinia Onlus

Michela Delli Guanti

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Maria Rosaria Capobianchi

Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani

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National Health Laboratory Service

Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani

Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico

National Institute for Communicable Diseases

University of Pretoria

University of the Witwatersrand

Ministry of Health and Sanitation

Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit

Center for Prevention and Treatment of Infections

National Center for Communicable Diseases

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EBOLA Ag K-SeT rapid test: field evaluation in Sierra Leone

Clinical Microbiology and Infection (2017)

Francesca Colavita Mirella Biava Pascal Mertens Quentin Gilleman Céline Borlon

Ebolavirus

10.1016/j.cmi.2017.10.019

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Citations (12)

Comparative Evaluation of the Diagnostic Performance of the Prototype Cepheid GeneXpert Ebola Assay

Journal of Clinical Microbiology (2015)

Petrus Jansen van Vuren Antoinette A. Grobbelaar Nadia Storm Ousman Conteh Kelfala Konneh

ABSTRACT The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa has highlighted an urgent need for point-of-care (POC) assays for the diagnosis of this devastating disease in resource-limited African countries. The diagnostic performance characteristics of a prototype Cepheid GeneXpert Ebola POC used to detect Ebola virus (EBOV) in stored serum and plasma samples collected from suspected EVD cases in Sierra Leone in 2014 and 2015 was evaluated. The GeneXpert Ebola POC is a self-contained single-cartridge automated system that targets the glycoprotein (GP) and nucleoprotein (NP) genes of EBOV and yields results within 90 min. Results from 281 patient samples were compared to the results of a TaqMan real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) targeting the polymerase gene and performed on two real-time PCR machines. Agreement between the three platforms was 100% at cycle threshold ( C T ) values of ≤34.99, but discordant results were noted between C T values of 35 and 45.The diagnostic sensitivity of the three platforms was 100% in 91 patient samples that were confirmed to be infectious by virus isolation. All three molecular platforms detected viral EBOV RNA in additional samples that did not contain viable EBOV. The analytical sensitivity of the GeneXpert Ebola POC for the detection of NP was higher, and comparable to that of polymerase gene detection, than that for the detection of GP when using a titrated laboratory stock of EBOV. There was no detectable cross-reactivity with other hemorrhagic fever viruses or arboviruses. The GeneXpert Ebola POC offers an easy to operate and sensitive diagnostic tool that can be used for the rapid screening of suspected EVD cases in treatment or in holding centers during EVD outbreaks.

GeneXpert MTB/RIF

TaqMan

Ebolavirus

10.1128/jcm.02724-15

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Citations (46)

Experiences of outbreak laboratory management in the Ebola Disease outbreak in West-Africa 2014-2015

Manfred Weidmann Daniel P. Bailey Xavier de Lamballerie Antonino Di Stephane Doyon

Additional co-authors: P Jansen van Vuren, K Stroecker, J Paweska, C Picard, H Sheeley, P Smit, AA Sall

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Evaluation of a rapid and sensitive RT-qPCR assay for the detection of Ebola Virus

Journal of Virological Methods (2017)

Mirella Biava Francesca Colavita Anna Marzorati Denise Hage Russo Danilo Pirola

Ebolavirus

10.1016/j.jviromet.2017.11.009

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Citations (24)

Experiences of outbreak laboratory management in the Ebola Disease outbreak in West-Africa 2014-2015 (Forthcoming)

Manfred Weidmann Daniel P. Bailey Lamballerie Xavier de Antonino Di Stephane Doyon

Additional co-authors: P Jansen van Vuren, CB Reusken, K Stroecker, J Paweska, C Picard, H Sheeley, P Smit, AA Sall

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South African Ebola diagnostic response in Sierra Leone: A modular high biosafety field laboratory

PLoS neglected tropical diseases (2017)

Janusz T. Pawęska Petrus Jansen van Vuren Gunther H. Meier Chantel le Roux Ousman Conteh

In August 2014, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa established a modular high-biosafety field Ebola diagnostic laboratory (SA FEDL) near Freetown, Sierra Leone in response to the rapidly increasing number of Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases.The SA FEDL operated in the Western Area of Sierra Leone, which remained a "hotspot" of the EVD epidemic for months. The FEDL was the only diagnostic capacity available to respond to the overwhelming demand for rapid EVD laboratory diagnosis for several weeks in the initial stages of the EVD crisis in the capital of Sierra Leone. Furthermore, the NICD set out to establish local capacity amongst Sierra Leonean nationals in all aspects of the FEDL functions from the outset. This led to the successful hand-over of the FEDL to the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation in March 2015. Between 25 August 2014 and 22 June 2016, the laboratory tested 11,250 specimens mostly from the Western Urban and Western Rural regions of Sierra Leone, of which 2,379 (21.14%) tested positive for Ebola virus RNA.The bio-safety standards and the portability of the SA FEDL, offered a cost-effective and practical alternative for the rapid deployment of a field-operated high biocontainment facility. The SA FEDL teams demonstrated that it is highly beneficial to train the national staff in the course of formidable disease outbreak and accomplished their full integration into all operational and diagnostic aspects of the laboratory. This initiative contributed to the international efforts in bringing the EVD outbreak under control in Sierra Leone, as well as capacitating local African scientists and technologists to respond to diagnostic needs that might be required in future outbreaks of highly contagious pathogens.

Biosafety

Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever

10.1371/journal.pntd.0005665

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Citations (18)