Criteria

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: case definition for viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF)[38]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has produced a case definition for viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF), including Ebola and Marburg virus diseases.

The clinical criteria for a case of VHF include:

  • Fever >40°C (104°F)

  • One or more of the following clinical findings:

    • Severe headache

    • Muscle pain

    • Erythematous maculopapular rash on the trunk with fine desquamation 3 to 4 days after rash onset

    • Vomiting

    • Diarrhoea

    • Pharyngitis (arenavirus only)

    • Abdominal pain

    • Bleeding not related to injury

    • Retrosternal chest pain (arenavirus only)

    • Proteinuria (arenavirus only)

    • Thrombocytopenia.

The full VHF case definition, including laboratory criteria for diagnosis and epidemiological linkage, is provided by the CDC:

CDC: viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) 2011 case definition Opens in new window

World Health Organization: case definitions for Ebola and Marburg virus diseases[24]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has produced case definitions for Ebola and Marburg virus diseases:

WHO: case definition recommendations for Ebola or Marburg virus diseases Opens in new window

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