{"id":548351,"date":"2026-06-22T14:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/548351\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T14:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:17:14","slug":"how-clinicians-can-identify-and-manage-ebola-hantavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/548351\/","title":{"rendered":"How clinicians can identify and manage Ebola, hantavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two deadly infectious diseases, Ebola \u00a0<\/strong>https:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/lookup\/doi\/10.1503\/cmaj.260834<\/a> and hantavirus https:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/lookup\/doi\/10.1503\/cmaj.260789<\/a>, have made headlines in recent weeks as they pose serious threats to public health. They both require rigorous infection and prevention control (IPAC) practices and often present with similar early symptoms.<\/p>\n

Two succinct articles in CMAJ\u00a0(Canadian Medical Association Journal) provide information about each disease for clinicians.<\/p>\n

Hantavirus:<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n
  1. A nationally notifiable disease in Canada<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0In Canada, 4\u00a0to 5\u00a0cases are confirmed every year and must be reported. These are usually acquired from rodents in agricultural settings in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. The Andes strain is unique as it can be transmitted from person to person.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  2. Causes 2 clinical symptoms<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Strains in the Americas, which include the Andes virus featured recently in the news, cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome. The European and Asian strains cause hemorrhagic fever and kidney dysfunction. Both forms take about 2\u00a0to 4\u00a0weeks to incubate, and symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, and abdominal pain<\/a>.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  3. Serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are diagnostic <\/strong>–\u00a0The National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg performs these tests.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  4. Supportive treatment <\/strong>–\u00a0As there is no specific antiviral treatment or vaccine for hantavirus, treatment is supportive to help alleviate symptoms.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  5. IPAC protocols are essential <\/strong>–\u00a0Patients with suspected Andes strain infection must be isolated with airborne, droplet, and contact precautions, with infectious diseases experts involved and public health notified.<\/li>\n

    \n<\/ol>\n

    Ebola virus disease<\/a>:<\/p>\n

      <\/p>\n
    1. Sporadic outbreaks have occurred in Central and West Africa since 1976 <\/strong>–\u00a0There are 3\u00a0main viruses that can infect humans, and evidence suggests they come from fruit bats. Ebola virus is spread via person-to-person contact through bodily fluids like vomit, sperm, diarrhea, and blood, as well as by touching infected surfaces or objects. The current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is Bundibugyo ebolavirus, with a fatality rate of 30% to 50%.<\/li>\n

      <\/p>\n

    2. Fewer than 50% of patients have hemorrhagic symptoms <\/strong>–\u00a0Symptoms include fever of 38\u00b0C or higher, fatigue, muscle pain, and gastrointestinal distress. Incubation is 2\u00a0to 21\u00a0days, and diagnosis is made with PCR testing.<\/li>\n

      <\/p>\n

    3. People with potential symptoms and exposure risk should be tested <\/strong>–\u00a0People who have travelled to countries with Ebola virus disease or who have been in close contact with infected people or bats, primates, or game from the affected areas should be tested.<\/li>\n

      <\/p>\n

    4. Stringent IPAC must be used for suspected cases<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Health Canada has a detailed process for screening, assessment, and IPAC precautions, which must include a fit-tested N95 respirator, face shield, gloves, and fluid-impermeable gear for full protection.<\/li>\n

      <\/p>\n

    5. Important advances in prevention and management of the disease have been made <\/strong>–\u00a0Vaccines to prevent Zaire ebolavirus\u00a0are very effective, and 2\u00a0antivirals can reduce mortality from 50% to 35%. However, there are no current vaccines or medications to prevent or treat Bundibugyo ebolavirus, for which supportive care is the main approach.<\/li>\n

      \n<\/ol>\n

      Source:<\/p>\n

      Canadian Medical Association Journal<\/a><\/p>\n

      Journal references:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two deadly infectious diseases, Ebola \u00a0https:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/lookup\/doi\/10.1503\/cmaj.260834 and hantavirus https:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/lookup\/doi\/10.1503\/cmaj.260789, have made headlines in recent weeks as they pose…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[78],"tags":[185657,18,13533,60245,135,19,4381,17,3294,149,2101,172,698],"class_list":["post-548351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ebola-virus-disease","tag-eire","tag-fever","tag-hantavirus","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-infectious-diseases","tag-ireland","tag-muscle","tag-pain","tag-public-health","tag-research","tag-virus"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116794192519003975","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}