Although widespread transmission of Ebola virus disease in West Africa was mostly controlled following the devastating epidemic in 2014–2015, subsequent clusters of infection have occurred in the region. In this study, Dokubo, Wendland, Mate, Ladner et al. investigated the cluster of Ebola virus disease cases identified in November 2015 in Liberia. Based on serological profiles and genomic and epidemiological data, they report that the possible source of infection in this cluster was a female patient who survived Ebola virus disease in 2014 and was persistently infected with the virus or suffered recurrent disease and subsequently transmitted the virus to family members a year later. These findings highlight that Ebola virus persistence poses a continued risk for disease resurgence.
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Dokubo, E. K., Wendland, A., Mate, S. E., Ladner, J. T. et al. Persistence of Ebola virus after the end of widespread transmission in Liberia: an outbreak report. Lancet Infect. Dis. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30417-1 (2018)
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Du Toit, A. Continued risk of Ebola virus outbreak. Nat Rev Microbiol 16, 521 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-018-0069-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-018-0069-1