Ebola virus outbreak investigation, Sierra Leone, September 28– November 11, 2014

Abstract

During 2014–2015, an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) swept across parts of West Africa. The China Mobile Laboratory Testing Team was dispatched to support response efforts, during September 28–November 11, 2014, they conducted PCR testing on samples from 1,635 suspected EVD patients. Of those patients, 50.4% were positive, of whom 84.6% lived within a 3-km zone along main roads connecting rural towns and densely populated cities. The median time from symptom onset to testing was 5 days. At testing, 75.7% of the confirmed patients had fever, and 94.1% reported at least 1 gastrointestinal symptom, all symptoms, except rash and hemorrhage, were more frequent in confirmed than nonconfirmed patients. Virus loads were significantly higher in EVD patients with fever, diarrhea, fatigue, or headache. The case-fatality rate was lower among patients 15–44 years of age and with virus loads of <100,000 RNA copies/mL. These findings are key for optimizing EVD control and treatment measures.