@article{f0d844f4be4744d2900fa9ed9b286fe1,
title = "Essentials of filoviral load quantification",
abstract = "Quantitative measurement of viral load is an important parameter in the management of filovirus disease outbreaks because viral load correlates with severity of disease, survival, and infectivity. During the ongoing Ebola virus disease outbreak in parts of Western Africa, most assays used in the detection of Ebola virus disease by more than 44 diagnostic laboratories yielded qualitative results. Regulatory hurdles involved in validating quantitative assays and the urgent need for a rapid Ebola virus disease diagnosis precluded development of validated quantitative assays during the outbreak. Because of sparse quantitative data obtained from these outbreaks, opportunities for study of correlations between patient outcome, changes in viral load during the course of an outbreak, disease course in asymptomatic individuals, and the potential for virus transmission between infected patients and contacts have been limited. We strongly urge the continued development of quantitative viral load assays to carefully evaluate these parameters in future outbreaks of filovirus disease.",
author = "Lieselotte Cnops and {van Griensven}, Johan and Honko, {Anna N.} and Bausch, {Daniel G.} and Armand Sprecher and Hill, {Charles E.} and Robert Colebunders and Johnson, {Joshua C.} and Anthony Griffiths and Palacios, {Gustavo F.} and Kraft, {Colleen S.} and Gary Kobinger and Angela Hewlett and Norwood, {David A.} and Pardis Sabeti and Jahrling, {Peter B.} and Pierre Formenty and Kuhn, {Jens H.} and Ari{\"e}n, {Kevin K.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Laura Bollinger (Battelle Memorial Institute, USA) for editing this paper. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the US Department of Health and Human Services, the US Department of Defense, the US Department of the Army, WHO, or the institutions and companies affiliated with the authors. This work was funded in part through Battelle Memorial Institute 's prime contract with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under Contract No. HHSN272200700016I . JCJ is an employee of Battelle Memorial Institute. A subcontractor to Battelle Memorial Institute who performed this work is: JHK, an employee of Tunnell Government Services Inc. LC holds an innovation mandate from the Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) from the Flemish Government. JVG is supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement number 666094 ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 Elsevier Ltd.",
year = "2016",
month = jul,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1016/S1473-3099(16)30063-9",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "16",
pages = "e134--e138",
journal = "The Lancet Infectious Diseases",
issn = "1473-3099",
publisher = "Lancet Publishing Group",
number = "7",
}