MINNEAPOLIS, November 25, 2008— Researchers from the United States and Uganda have released the first full scientific report on a new Ebola species that struck western Uganda late last year and was linked to 149 suspected cases and 37 deaths, at least 4 of them health care providers.

During the midst of the 2007 outbreak the World Health Organization announced Nov. 30 that a new subtype of the virus was sickening people in Bundibugyo district. Researchers published a detailed account today on the discovery and an analysis of genetic findings of the new subtype in the Public Library of Science Pathogens (PLoS Pathogens). 

During the 2007 outbreak, officials were puzzled because patients had unusual initial symptoms such as vomiting and others that resembled malaria, according to previous reports. Officials didn't suspect Ebola right away, because some of the early case patients didn't have external bleeding. 

Four Ebola subtypes have previously been identified—Zaire, Sudan, Cote d'Ivoire, and Reston—but only the Zaire and Sudan subtypes have been associated with large hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in people in Africa. The Ebola virus is highly contagious and is lethal in about 50 percent to 90 percent of cases.

Initial symptoms include fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat, and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some patients have both internal and external bleeding. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the disease.

Source: CIDRAP