Laboratory diagnosis of filoviral disease

Abstract

Clinically approved and reliable filovirus pre- and post-exposure prophylaxes are not yet available, but the probability of accidental filovirus exposure of researchers in a modern maximum-containment laboratory can be decreased considerably by adherence to established rigorous biosafety protocols and standard operating procedures [2582, 2873]. Unfortunately, the natural reservoirs of the filoviruses are unknown. Therefore, it is next to impossible to prevent initial filovirus infections (index cases) in endemic areas. Efforts to prevent filovirus transmission from infected animals or index cases.