Incubation Period of Ebola Hemorrhagic Virus Subtype Zaire

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Osong Public Health Res Perspect
• Personal Author:
  Eichner, Martin ; Dowell, Scott F. ; Firese, Nina
• Description:
  Objectives
  
  Ebola hemorrhagic fever has killed over 1300 people, mostly in equatorial Africa. There is still uncertainty about the natural reservoir of the virus and about some of the factors involved in disease transmission. Until now, a maximum incubation period of 21 days has been assumed.
  
  Methods
  
  We analyzed data collected during the Ebola outbreak (subtype Zaire) in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1995 using maximum likelihood inference and assuming a log-normally distributed incubation period.
  
  Results
  
  The mean incubation period was estimated to be 12.7 days (standard deviation 4.31 days), indicating that about 4.1% of patients may have incubation periods longer than 21 days.
  
  Conclusion
  
  If the risk of new cases is to be reduced to 1% then 25 days should be used when investigating the source of an outbreak, when determining the duration of surveillance for contacts, and when declaring the end of an outbreak.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Disease Outbreaks/prevention & Control Ebolavirus Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola Models, Statistical
• Source:
  Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2011; 2(1):3-7.
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Volume:
  2
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:79b3ef305d0dd9e8a725524cac89c788b888b32ad33222963ec39aa4faaa7509
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/24805/cdc_24805_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 164.60 KB ]