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Volume 14, Number 6—June 2008
Synopsis

Managing Potential Laboratory Exposure to Ebola Virus by Using a Patient Biocontainment Care Unit1

Mark G. Kortepeter*Comments to Author , James W. Martin*, Janice M. Rusnak*, Theodore J. Cieslak†, Kelly L. Warfield*, Edwin L. Anderson*, and Manmohan V. Ranadive*
Author affiliations: *US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Maryland, USA; †San Antonio Military Pediatric Center, San Antonio, Texas, USA;

Main Article

Table 1

Admissions into the medical containment suite at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1972–2004*

Patient no. Date of admission Days in isolation Virus† Reason for admission Therapy‡ Comments§
1 1972 Oct 18 Machupo Cut finger IP
2 1975 Oct 42 Machupo Cut finger IP, IG
3 1976 Oct 21 JEB Fingerstick
4 1977 Sep 14 Machupo Vial leak
5 1977 Sep 14 Machupo Vial leak
6 1978 May 11 Dengue Not specified Modified CC
7 1978 May 8 Dengue Not specified Modified CC
8 1978 Jun 17 Lassa Dropped vial LIG
9 1978 Jun 17 Lassa Dropped vial LIG
10 1978 Jul 8 Lassa Field exposure
11 1978 Nov 14 Lassa Suit seam failed
12 1979 May 20 Lassa Fingerstick IP
13¶ 1979 Jul 21 Lassa Fingerstick IP
14 1979 Nov 20 Lassa Fingerstick IP, Rib
15 1981 May 14 Ebola/Lassa Field exposure Modified CC
16 1982 Oct 14 Junin Defective suit seal Conventional
17 1982 Dec 21 Junin Fingerstick IP
18 1983 Jan 3 Rift Valley fever Waste exposure
19 1983 Apr 14 Junin Defective suit seal Conventional
20 1985 May 4 Junin Fingerstick
21 2004 Feb 21 Ebola Fingerstick

*Modified from Cieslak et al. (8) with permission.
†JEB, Japanese encephalitis virus B; Ebola/Lassa, potential exposure to these viruses.
‡IP, immune plasma from previously infected survivors; IG, immune globulin; LIG, Lassa immune globulin; Rib, ribavirin.
§CC, containment care; modified CC, provided by converting a separate physical facility into a Biosafety Level 4–like suite; conventional, Biosafety Level 3 isolation was permitted for 2 lower risk exposures.
¶Not noted in previous reports (7,8).

Main Article

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Main Article

1This article is derived from the lecture “10 Steps in Managing an Ebola Exposure,” presented at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, December 15, 2005, Washington, DC, USA, and September 26, 2006, San Francisco, CA, USA.

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