WHO suggested outbreak case definition¹

• any person, alive or dead, suffering or having suffered from sudden onset of high fever, and had contact with:
  • a suspected, probable, or confirmed Ebola case, or a dead or sick animal; OR
• any person with sudden onset of high fever, AND at least three of the following symptoms: headache, lethargy, anorexia/loss of appetite, aching muscles or joints, stomach pain, difficulty swallowing, vomiting, difficulty breathing, diarrhoea, hiccups; OR
• any person with inexplicable bleeding; OR
• any sudden, inexplicable death.

• any suspected case evaluated by a clinician, OR
• any deceased suspected case (where it has not been possible to collect specimens for laboratory confirmation) having an epidemiological link with a confirmed case.

• any suspected or probable case with a positive laboratory result (detection of Ebola virus by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), or detection of Immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies directed against Ebola viruses).

• any suspected or probable case with a negative laboratory result (showing no specific antibodies, ribonucleic acid (RNA) or specific detectable antigens).

WHO surveillance case definition

• Case definition recommendations for Ebola or Marburg virus diseases (Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014).

WHO other definition

Definition of a contact of a case:

• any person having been exposed to a suspected, probable or confirmed case of Ebola virus infection, less than 21 days before the identification as a contact by surveillance teams, in at least one of the following ways:
  • slept in the same household with a case
  • direct physical contact with the case (alive or dead) during the illness
  • direct physical contact with the (dead) case at the funeral
  • touched his/her blood or body fluids during the illness
  • touched his/her clothes or linen
  • been breastfed by a patient (baby).

Dead or sick animal contacts

• Any person having been exposed to a sick or dead animal, less than 21 days before the identification as a contact by surveillance teams, in at least one of the following ways:
  • direct physical contact with the animal
  • direct contact with the animal’s blood or body fluids
  • carved up the animal
  • eaten raw bush-meat

Laboratory contacts

• Any person having been exposed to biological material in a laboratory, less than 21 days before the identification as a contact by surveillance teams, in at least one of the following ways:
  • has had direct contact with specimens collected from suspected Ebola patients
  • has had direct contact with specimens collected from suspected Ebola animal cases

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  Other infection risk factors include contact with a hospital where Ebola cases are being treated; injection or vaccination in the 21 days preceding the onset of symptoms.
• The contact person should be followed for 21 days after exposure. If the contact person is asymptomatic for 21 days after exposure, they can be released the follow-up

1. _{See: Case definition recommendations for Ebola or Marburg virus diseases (Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014).}
2. _{Case definition to be used by mobile teams, health stations and health centres. Adapt as needed to new clinical presentations or different modes of transmission related to the local event.}
3. _{Case definitions for exclusive use by hospitals and surveillance teams.}

• Case investigation forms:
  • Ebola or Marburg case investigation and recording sheet. In: Ebola and Marburg virus disease epidemics: preparedness, alert, control and evaluation, Interim version 1.2 (Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014) Annex 5
• Line list: Not available. 
• Electronic tools: 
  • WHO Godata 2.0 software: contact godata@who.int