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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffEbola and Marburg hemorrhagic fevers are difficult to diagnose because many of the early signs and symptoms resemble those of other infectious diseases, such as typhoid and malaria. But if doctors suspect that you have been exposed to Ebola virus or Marburg virus, they use laboratory tests that can identify the viruses within a few days.
Most people with Ebola or Marburg hemorrhagic fever have high concentrations of the virus in their blood. Blood tests known as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can detect specific genes or the virus or antibodies to them.
- Ebola hemorrhagic fever fact sheet. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/Fact_Sheets/Ebola_Fact_Booklet.pdf. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Questions and answers about Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/Spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/qa.htm. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Questions and answers about Marburg hemorrhagic fever. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/marburg/qa.htm. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notice to readers update: Management of patients with suspected viral hemorrhagic fever - United States. MMWR. 1995;44:475. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00038033.htm. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Ebola hemorrhagic fever. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Marburg hemorrhagic fever. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/marburg/en. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Marburg hemorrhagic fever, imported case - United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/outbreaks/index.htm. March 29, 2009.
- Ebola/Marburg vaccine development. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/ebolaMarburg. Accessed April 9, 2009.
- Peters CJ. Marburg and Ebola - Arming ourselves against the deadly filoviruses. New England Journal of Medicine. 2005;352:2571.
- Towner JS, et al. Marburg virus infection detected in a common African bat. PLoS (Public Library of Science) One. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.000076Accessed April 11, 2009.
