Although, after an epidemic of over 28 000 cases, there are still no licensed treatments for Ebola virus disease (EVD), significant progress was made during the West Africa outbreak. The pace of pre-clinical development was exceptional and a number of therapeutic clinical trials were conducted in the face of considerable challenges. Given the on-going risk of emerging infectious disease outbrea...

Factors increasing the risk of DHF outbreaks The occurrence of DHF outbreaks is linked to a number of factors, including the density of mosquito vectors, particularly that of Aedes aegypti. The precise population density of Ae. aegypti that is needed to sustain dengue virus transmission epidemically or endemically has yet to be determined, but experience in Singapore in recent years suggests th...

Rift Valley fever is the most important bunyaviral disease of animals in Africa. The virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, causes abortions and mortality in young animals in addition to haemorrhagic fevers in humans. Although vaccines against this virus are available, the uses of these vaccines are limited because of deleterious effects or incomplete protection, justifying further studies to improv...

Ebola virus (EBOV) gained public notoriety in the last decade largely as a consequence of the highly publicized isolation of a new EBOV species in a suburb of Washington, DC, in 1989, together with the dramatic clinical presentation of EBOV infection and high case-fatality rate in Africa (near 90% in some outbreaks), and the unusual and striking morphology of the virus. Furthermore, there are n...

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is one of the most widespread arboviroses in the world. It is present in Africa, south-east Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It is caused by a nairovirus (Bunyaviridae family) transmitted by several species of ticks. The geographical distribution of the disease coincides with the distribution of Hyalomma ticks. While infected livestock do not show signs ...

The two basic methods for establishing a laboratory diagnosis of dengue infection are detection of the virus (e.g. culture) or detection of anti-dengue antibodies (serology). Until recently, detection of the virus implied solely the recovery of the virus by culture; however, current procedures can detect dengue virus RNA and specific dengue virus antigens. Consequently, these procedures are lik...

C rimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a zoonotic, vector-borne disease caused by a virus in the Bunyaviridae family, of the genus Nairovirus. This disease affects humans and animals very differently. In humans, CCHF can vary from asymptomatic infection to severe haemorrhagic fever, with death occurring in up to 30% of severely ill patients. Many other species of mammals and some birds can...

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a severe, usually fatal illness caused by Ebola virus, a member of the filovirus family. The use of nonhomologous immune serum in animal studies and blood from survivors in two anecdotal reports of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in humans has shown promise, but the efficacy of these treatments has not been demonstrated definitively. We have evaluated the protective efficacy ...