Genome sequence analysis of Ebola virus in clinical samples from three British healthcare workers, August 2014 to March 2015

A Bell; K Lewandowski; R Myers; D Wooldridge; E Aarons; A Simpson; R Vipond; M Jacobs; S Gharbia; M Zambon

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2015.20.20.21131

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Genome sequence analysis of Ebola virus in clinical samples from three British healthcare workers, August 2014 to March 2015
A Bell^1,2 , K Lewandowski^1,2 , R Myers³ , D Wooldridge³ , E Aarons¹ , A Simpson¹ , R Vipond^1,4 , M Jacobs⁵ , S Gharbia^3,4 , M Zambon³
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Affiliations: ¹ Public Health England, Porton Down, Salisbury, United Kingdom ² These authors contributed equally to the work and are joint first authors ³ Public Health England, Colindale, London, United Kingdom ⁴ NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, Liverpool, United Kingdom ⁵ Department of Infection, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom

Correspondence:
K Lewandowski
kuiama.lewandowski phe.gov.uk
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Citation style for this article: Bell A, Lewandowski K, Myers R, Wooldridge D, Aarons E, Simpson A, Vipond R, Jacobs M, Gharbia S, Zambon M. Genome sequence analysis of Ebola virus in clinical samples from three British healthcare workers, August 2014 to March 2015. Euro Surveill. 2015;20(20):pii=21131. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2015.20.20.21131 Received: 18 May 2015

Abstract

We determined complete viral genome sequences from three British healthcare workers infected with Ebola virus (EBOV) in Sierra Leone, directly from clinical samples. These sequences closely resemble those previously observed in the current Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa, with glycoprotein and polymerase genes showing the most sequence variation. Our data indicate that current PCR diagnostic assays remain suitable for detection of EBOV in this epidemic and provide confidence for their continued use in diagnosis.