This year the Hajj will take place during 24-29 October. Recent outbreaks of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cholera in Sierra Leone, and infections associated with a novel coronavirus in Saudi Arabia and Qatar required review of the health recommendations of the 2012 Hajj. Current guidelines foresee mandatory vaccination with quadrivalent meningococ...

Between 1 September and 24 October 1976, 318 cases of acute viral haemorrhagic fever occurred in northern Zaire. The outbreak was centred in the Bumba Zone of the Equateur Region and most of the cases were recorded within a radius of 70 km of Yambuku, although a few patients sought medical attention in Bumba, Abumombazi, and the capital city of Kinshasa, where individual secondary and tertiary ...

A confirmed Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF) outbreak in Bundibugyo, Uganda, November 2007-February 2008, was caused by a putative new species (Bundibugyo ebolavirus). It included 93 putative cases, 56 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 37 deaths (CFR = 25%). Study objectives are to describe clinical manifestations and case management for 26 hospitalised laboratory-confirmed EHF patients. Clinical f...

Ebola haemorrhagic fever causes deadly disease in humans and non-human primates resulting from infection with the Ebola virus (EBOV) genus of the family Filoviridae. However, the mechanisms of EBOV lifecycle in host cells, including viral entry, membrane fusion, RNP formation, GP-tetherin interaction, and VP40-inner leaflet association remain poorly understood. This review describes the biologi...

This clinical review has been developed for The BMJ in collaboration with BMJ Best Practice, based on a regularly updated web/mobile topic that supports evidence-based decision making at the point of care. To view the complete and current version, please refer to the Ebola virus infection topic on the BMJ Best Practice website. Ebola virus disease is a severe, often fatal, zoonotic filovirus in...

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the largest and most complicated that the world has even seen. Since it was first identified in the forested regions of south eastern Guinea in March, it has spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria and has now been declared a “public health emergency of international concern” by the World Health Organization. Ebola virus is one of a group of zoo...

In order to assist national public health authorities in the European Union to assess the risks associated with the transmission of infectious agents on board aircrafts, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control initiated in 2007 the RAGIDA project (Risk Assessment Guidance for Infectious Diseases transmitted on Aircraft). RAGIDA consists of two parts: the production of a systemati...