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Low Seroprevalence of IgG Antibodies to Ebola Virus in an Epidemic Zone: Ogooué‐Ivindo Region, Northeastern Gabon, 1997

2005; Oxford University Press; Volume: 191; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1086/427994

1537-6613

Richard Heffernan, Bertin Pambo, Richard Hatchett, Patricia A. Leman, Robert Swanepoel, Robert W. Ryder,

Hepatitis B Virus Studies

A population-based serosurvey was performed to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies to Ebola virus (EBO) in a region that has experienced multiple epidemics of EBO hemorrhagic fever. Of 2533 residents in 8 villages, serum samples from 979 (38.6%) were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for immunoglobulin (Ig) G and IgM antibodies to Ebola-Zaire (EBO-Z) virus. Fourteen samples (1.4%) were found positive for IgG antibodies, and 4 of these (.4%) were samples from survivors of an epidemic of EBO hemorrhagic fever. Seroprevalence based on the remaining 10 IgG-seropositive individuals with no history of exposure to EBO was 1.0% (exact binomial 95% confidence interval, 0.5%-1.9%). No serum samples were found positive for IgM antibodies to EBO-Z virus. The low seroprevalence suggests that, outside of recognized outbreaks, human exposure to EBO in this epidemic zone is rare.