| Popis: |
Marburg and Ebola viruses are morphologically and genetically similar, immunologically distinct rod-shaped agents in the family Filoviridae. They produce acute hemorrhagic fever in man.(41a) Although other viruses cause a rather similar disease in Africa and differential diagnosis of a sporadic case cannot be made on clinical grounds, the syndrome associated with infection by these two agents is sufficiently unique and unvarying to distinguish it from yellow fever, Lassa fever, and other infections whenever a cluster of cases occurs. For this reason, the term African hemorrhagic fever (AFHF), rather than Marburg or Ebola disease, is used here to refer to clinical infection caused by either virus. Explosive emergence, high mortality, nosocomial secondary transmission, and ecological mystery have combined to draw worldwide attention to these infections. |
