Stephen Karabyo Balinandi

• Laboratory Specialist at Uganda Virus Research Institute

Background East Africa is home to 170 million people and prone to frequent outbreaks of viral haemorrhagic fevers and various bacterial diseases. A major challenge is that epidemics mostly happen in remote areas, where infrastructure for Biosecurity Level (BSL) 3/4 laboratory capacity is not available. As samples have to be transported from the out...

Morphological abnormalities in ticks seem to be rare phenomena in nature, and are underreported in Africa. In this article, we describe general and local anomalies in two Amblyomma lepidum females and one Rhipicephalus decoloratus female collected from cattle in Moroto and Kasese districts, Uganda. One A. lepidum specimen displayed metagynander gyn...

Background: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is the most geographically widespread tick-borne viral infection. Outbreaks of CCHF in sub-Saharan Africa are largely undetected and thus under-reported. On November 9, 2015, the National Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Laboratory at the Uganda Virus Research Institute received an alert for a suspect VHF...

Introduction On 17 September 2015, Buliisa District Health Office reported multiple deaths due to haemorrhage to the Uganda Ministry of Health. We conducted an investigation to verify the existence of an outbreak and to identify the disease nature, mode of transmission and risk factors. Methods We defined a suspected case as onset of hematemesis b...

Background: Uganda has reported five (5) Ebola virus disease outbreaks and three (3) Marburg virus disease outbreaks from 2000 to 2016. Peoples' knowledge and attitude towards Ebola and Marburg virus disease impact on control and prevention measures especially during outbreaks. We describe knowledge and attitude towards Ebola and Marburg virus out...

Questionnaire that was used to collect quantitative data. (PDF)

This picture shows proportional piling technique where participants used 100 grains of beans to distribute them according to what they think is most important in transmitting Ebola Virus disease. Words are written in the local language, Luganda. (TIF)

The picture shows pairwise ranking technique where participants listed and compared the possible causes of filovirus outbreaks among themselves to come up with a rank of the most important cause. Causes were listed in both rows and columns in the local language. (TIF)

This picture shows proportional piling of 100 grains of beans to determine which gender is affected most by filovirus outbreaks. (TIF)

The Receiver Operating Curve(ROC) that was used to assess the model for predictors of knowledge towards Ebola and Marburg virus diseases. (TIF)

Quantitative data set. (XLSX)

This is a picture showing how participants in one of the FGDs ranked the most important clinical signs of Ebola Virus disease. The clinical signs are written in one of the local languages in Uganda, Luganda. (TIF)

Results of pairwise ranking technique applied on risk factors/causes of Ebola and Marburg virus diseases. (DOCX)

Focused group discussion guide that was used to collect qualitative data. (PDF)

Themes and categories generated from focused group discussions by conventional content analysis technique about People’s knowledge and attitude towards Ebola and Marburg virus diseases. (DOCX)

An alternative model to the logistic regression model if no categorisation of knowledge is done. The predictors of knowledge score are the same as those in the logistic regression. (XLSX)

In September 2014, a single fatal case of Marburg virus was identified in a healthcare worker in Kampala, Uganda. The source of infection was not identified, and no secondary cases were identified. We describe the rapid identification, laboratory diagnosis, and case investigation of the third Marburg virus outbreak in Uganda.

On March 9, 2016, a male butcher from Kabale District, Uganda, aged 45 years, reported to the Kabale Regional Referral Hospital with fever, fatigue, and headache associated with black tarry stools and bleeding from the nose. One day later, a student aged 16 years from a different sub-county in Kabale District developed similar symptoms and was admi...

In October 2012, a cluster of illnesses and deaths was reported in Uganda and was confirmed to be an outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD). Patients meeting the case criteria were interviewed using a standard investigation form, and blood specimens were tested for evidence of acute or recent Marburg virus infection by reverse transcription-polyme...

In August 2012, a wildlife biologist became ill immediately following a 6-wk field trip to collect bats and rodents in South Sudan and Uganda. After returning to the US, the biologist was admitted to the hospital with multiple symptoms including fever, malaise, headache, generalized myalgia and arthralgia, stiffness in the neck, and sore throat. So...

Recovery from ebolavirus infection in humans is associated with the development of both cell-mediated and humoral immune responses. According to recent studies, individuals that did not survive infection with ebolaviruses appear to have lacked a robust adaptive immune response and the expression of several early innate response markers. However, a...

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Photographs taken during August 2008–September 2009 of bat extermination efforts at Kitaka Mine, and table showing demographic characteristics of bats captured during a Marburg hemorrhagic fever outbreak investigation at the mine in November 2012, Uganda.

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More than a decade after infection with the Gulu strain of Sudan Ebola virus, persons in Uganda were found to have persistent immune responses. To the Editor: Ebola virus is a highly virulent emerging pathogen and a causative agent of viral hemorrhagic fever.(1) Studies of the pathogenesis of Ebola virus infection in humans have indicated that reco...

In 2012, an unprecedented number of four distinct, partially overlapping filovirus-associated viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks were detected in equatorial Africa. Analysis of complete virus genome sequences confirmed the reemergence of Sudan virus and Marburg virus in Uganda, and the first emergence of Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic o...

Background As the threat of zoonoses and the emergence of pandemic-prone respiratory viruses increases, there is a need to establish baseline information on the incidence of endemic pathogens in countries worldwide. Objectives To investigate the presence of viruses associated with influenza-like illnesses (ILI) in Uganda. Methods A cross-sectiona...

GenBank accession numbers of all Marburg virus sequences analyzed. (DOCX)

Suspected (extrapolated) exposure dates for 52 miners from the final Marburg hemorrhagic fever (MHF) patient list from the 1998–2000 outbreak in Durba, Democratic Republic of Congo. (DOCX)

Marburg virus (family Filoviridae) causes sporadic outbreaks of severe hemorrhagic disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Bats have been implicated as likely natural reservoir hosts based most recently on an investigation of cases among miners infected in 2007 at the Kitaka mine, Uganda, which contained a large population of Marburg virus-infected Rousettu...

Two large outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever occurred in Uganda in 2000 and 2007. In May 2011, we identified a single case of Sudan Ebola virus disease in Luwero District. The establishment of a permanent in-country laboratory and cooperation between international public health entities facilitated rapid outbreak response and control activities.

In November 2010, following reports of an outbreak of a fatal, febrile, hemorrhagic illness in northern Uganda, the Uganda Ministry of Health established multisector teams to respond to the outbreak. This was a case-series investigation in which the response teams conducted epidemiological and laboratory investigations on suspect cases. The cases i...

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (Salmonella Typhi) causes an estimated 22 million typhoid fever cases and 216 000 deaths annually worldwide. In Africa, the lack of laboratory diagnostic capacity limits the ability to recognize endemic typhoid fever and to detect outbreaks. We report a large laboratory-confirmed outbreak of typhoid fever in Uganda...

In October and November 2010, hospitals in northern Uganda reported patients with suspected hemorrhagic fevers. Initial tests for Ebola viruses, Marburg virus, Rift Valley fever virus, and Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus were negative. Unbiased PCR amplification of total RNA extracted directly from patient sera and next generation sequencing...

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined sociodemographic, behavioral, and biological factors associated with HHV-8 infection in children and adults to determine HHV-8 seroprevalence and potential routes of transmission. Participants were 1383 children and 1477 adults from a population-based sample in a ru...

Author Summary Marburg virus, similar to its close cousin Ebola virus, can cause large outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever (HF) in rural Africa with case fatalities approaching 90%. For decades, a long-standing enigma has been the identity of the natural reservoir of this deadly virus. In this report, we identify the cave-dwelling Egyptian fruit bat (Ro...