Abstract
The exotic diseases are highly virulent transmissible conditions that include Lassa fever, some viral hemorrhagic fevers, smallpox and plague. Any of these diseases could be brought into or diagnosed in Canada as the result of natural or laboratory acquired infection. The patients must be isolated until the presumptive diagnosis is proved. High-security isolation is necessary and needs to be backed up by high-security laboratory services. In Canada facilities for high-security isolation are generally not available; therefore, hospitals must preplan and be ready to effect the best possible isolation under the existing conditions. The plan should address construction, ventilation, filtration, temperature and humidity, together with protective measures for staff and careful handling of laboratory specimens. Materials the patient has contacted and areas or vehicles he or she has been in will have to be decontaminated, and appropriate, safe disposal of corpses must be considered.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Clayton A. J. Lassa fever, Marburg and Ebola virus diseases and other exotic diseases: is there a risk to Canada? Can Med Assoc J. 1979 Jan 20;120(2):146–155. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Emond R. T., Evans B., Bowen E. T., Lloyd G. A case of Ebola virus infection. Br Med J. 1977 Aug 27;2(6086):541–544. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6086.541. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Emond R. T., Smith H., Welsby P. D. Assessment of patients with suspected viral haemorrhagic fever. Br Med J. 1978 Apr 15;1(6118):966–967. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.6118.966. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gear J. S., Cassel G. A., Gear A. J., Trappler B., Clausen L., Meyers A. M., Kew M. C., Bothwell T. H., Sher R., Miller G. B. Outbreake of Marburg virus disease in Johannesburg. Br Med J. 1975 Nov 29;4(5995):489–493. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5995.489. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gelfand H. M., Posch J. The recent outbreak of smallpox in Meschede, West Germany. Am J Epidemiol. 1971 Apr;93(4):234–237. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a121251. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Martini G. A. Marburg agent disease: in man. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1969;63(3):295–302. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(69)90001-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]