Table 2 Case definition of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) [23, 34]
From: Outbreaks of Ebola virus disease in Africa: the beginnings of a tragic saga
Name | Definition |
|---|---|
Index case | Very first case (probable or confirmed, see below) found to be the origin of the outbreak |
Alert case | Any person with sudden onset of high fever or sudden death or bleeding or bloody diarrhea or blood in urine |
Suspect case (person under investigation) | Any person, dead or alive, who present (or presented before the death): |
(i) fever (>38.5°C or 101.5 °F) with additional symptoms (severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or unexplained hemorrhage) and (ii) epidemiologic risk factors within the past 21 days before the onset of symptoms (close contact with body fluids of a suspect or probable case of EVD, or direct handling of bush animals from disease-endemic areas) | |
Probable case | Person with symptoms compatible with EVD, as evaluated by a clinician, or a dead person with an epidemiological link with a confirmed case |
Contacts | Person without suggestive symptom of the disease, but who has been in contact with a suspect or probable case of EVD (living in the same house, provided care during the illness, participated in the burial rites etc.). It should be important to assess the risk level (see Table 3). |
If laboratory samples are obtained at an appropriate time during the illness, the previous notification categories should be reclassified as “laboratory-confirmed” cases and “not a case” | |
Confirmed case | Case with positive laboratory response for either Ebola virus antigen or Ebola IgG antibody |
“Not a case” | Person with no Ebola-specific detectable antibody or antigen |