The West African Ebola epidemic of 2014-2015 was the largest-ever Ebola outbreak, claiming more than 11,000 human lives, and forever altering many thousands more. Unlike previous Ebola outbreaks, however, a large number of Ebola patients survived this epidemic.
For some, surviving wasn’t the end of their challenges. Many of the recent epidemic’s 16,000+ Ebola survivors suffer from chronic, long-term health problems including headaches, joint pain, and eye problems caused by Ebola. Scientists do not yet fully understand what causes these after-effects.
In addition to supporting ongoing response to Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), FDA and government partners are conducting studies in West Africa to better understand how Ebola affects patients who have survived, and to learn how to more effectively treat these patients’ chronic health problems.
In this Medical Countermeasures Initiative (MCMi) regulatory science project, Stanford University will analyze Ebola survivors with and without chronic health problems in an effort to identify factors responsible for driving prolonged disease well after the initial, acute infection.
This project will also explore immunopathology and how it differs for various chronic post-Ebola signs and symptoms. This new data will provide valuable information to better understand the natural course of Ebola virus disease and identify possible causes of chronic health problems in survivors.
The team will use a variety of approaches to analyze laboratory specimens, including CyTOF mass cytometry, and will make analysis readily interpretable by researchers around the world.
