{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T04:12:59Z","timestamp":1760242379185,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,6,14]],"date-time":"2017-06-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1497398400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged the large West African Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak to be a community health disaster of global concern, and the spread of disease demands a synchronized response. Medical practitioners have an increased risk of contracting the disease as compared to others as they are directly exposed to patients\u2019 blood or fluids. This study evaluated the knowledge of medical practitioners in Karachi regarding EVD. It was descriptive and exploratory in nature and took place over a period of 4 months, i.e., August 2016 to November 2016. The respondents were randomly selected by convenience sampling and surveyed with a 20-item questionnaire. Overall, 403 questionnaires were included in the study and a response rate of 80.6% was achieved. The majority (56.3%) considered themselves to be somewhat knowledgeable; females had more knowledge as compared to male (p &lt; 0.003). More than 80% knew about the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Interestingly, the findings revealed that respondents\u2019 knowledge about diagnosis and identification of EVD is good. Respondents considered EVD a severe disease and emphasized on the need for protective measures when contacting affected patients. Interventions should be tailored to focus on areas where respondents showed a lack of knowledge about the disease.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed2020016","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,6,14]],"date-time":"2017-06-14T10:49:53Z","timestamp":1497437393000},"page":"16","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The Understanding of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Among Medical Practitioners of Karachi, Pakistan"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"2","author":[{"given":"Sadia","family":"Shakeel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Dow College of Pharmacy, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi 75270, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wajiha","family":"Iffat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dow College of Pharmacy, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi 75270, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4848-6807","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Atta","family":"Naqvi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Clinical Pharmacy, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (University of Dammam), Dammam 31441, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fouzia","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jinnah University for Women, V \u2013 C, Nazimabad, Karachi 74600, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shugufta","family":"Usmani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, Hamdard University, Sharae Madinat al-Hikmah, Mohammad Bin Qasim Avenue, Karachi 74600, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Manahil","family":"Mazhar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dow College of Pharmacy, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi 75270, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ayesha","family":"Nisar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dow College of Pharmacy, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi 75270, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,6,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Knipe, D., Howley, P., Griffin, D., Lamb, R., and Martin, M. (2006). Filoviridae: Marburg and Ebola viruses. Fields Virology, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. [5th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2323","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.40.7.2323-2330.2002","article-title":"Rapid detection and quantification of RNA of Ebola and Marburg viruses, Lassa virus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Rift Valley fever virus, dengue virus, and yellow fever virus by real-time reverse transcription-PCR","volume":"40","author":"Drosten","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Clin. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"549","DOI":"10.4103\/1947-2714.145458","article-title":"Ebola virus infection: What should be known?","volume":"6","author":"Wiwanitkit","year":"2014","journal-title":"N. Am. J. Med. Sci."},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"6","article-title":"Ebola virus outbreaks in Africa: Past and present","volume":"79","author":"Mulangu","year":"2012","journal-title":"Onderstepoort J. Vet. Res."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"444","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aogh.2015.02.005","article-title":"Transmission of Ebola virus disease: An overview","volume":"80","author":"Rewar","year":"2014","journal-title":"Ann. Glob. Health"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/2049-9957-3-29","article-title":"Need of surveillance response systems to combat Ebola outbreaks and other emerging infectious diseases in African countries","volume":"3","author":"Tambo","year":"2014","journal-title":"Infect. Dis. Poverty"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"WHO Ebola Response Team (2014). Ebola virus disease in West Africa\u2014The first 9 months of the epidemic and forward projections. N. Engl. J. Med., 371, 1481\u20131495.","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1411100"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S142","DOI":"10.1086\/520545","article-title":"Assessment of the risk of Ebola virus transmission from bodily fluids and fomites","volume":"196","author":"Bausch","year":"2007","journal-title":"JID"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1369","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1259657","article-title":"Genomic surveillance elucidates Ebola virus origin and transmission during the 2014 outbreak","volume":"345","author":"Gire","year":"2014","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1180","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMp1409858","article-title":"The international Ebola emergency","volume":"371","author":"Briand","year":"2014","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"138","DOI":"10.4103\/0300-1652.153405","article-title":"Knowledge regarding Ebola hemorrhagic fever among private dental practitioners in Tricity, India: A cross-sectional questionnaire study","volume":"56","author":"Gupta","year":"2015","journal-title":"Niger. Med. J."},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"127","article-title":"Threat of Ebola virus disease for Pakistan","volume":"12","author":"Khan","year":"2015","journal-title":"Gomal J. Med. Sci."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.4103\/2045-080X.151282","article-title":"Pakistan adopts defensive strategies against Ebola contagion","volume":"6","author":"Yazdani","year":"2015","journal-title":"Arch. Pharma. Pract."},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"(2017, June 02). Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC). Available online: http:\/\/www.pmdc.org.pk\/PractitionerSearch\/tabid\/177\/Default.aspx."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"1168","article-title":"Ebola virus disease in health care workers\u2014Sierra Leone","volume":"63","author":"Kilmarx","year":"2014","journal-title":"MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"747","DOI":"10.3855\/jidc.7578","article-title":"Are healthcare workers ready for Ebola? An assessment of their knowledge and attitude in a referral hospital in South India","volume":"10","author":"Ahmad","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Infect. Dev. Ctries."},{"key":"ref_17","first-page":"185","article-title":"Knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on dengue fever: A hospital based study","volume":"31","author":"Matta","year":"2006","journal-title":"Indian J. Commun. Med."},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"Dunklin, R., and Thompson, S. (2017, June 04). ER Doctor discusses role in Ebola patient\u2019s initial misdiagnosis. Available online: https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/news\/2014\/12\/06\/er-doctor-discusses-role-in-ebola-patients-initial-misdiagnosis."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"531","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00017-06","article-title":"Bats: Important reservoir hosts of emerging viruses","volume":"19","author":"Calisher","year":"2006","journal-title":"Clin. Microbiol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2210","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(00)02405-3","article-title":"Human asymptomatic Ebola infection and strong inflammatory response","volume":"355","author":"Leroy","year":"2000","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1016\/S0255-0857(21)02104-6","article-title":"Impact of education on knowledge, attitudes and practices among various categories of health care workers on nosocomial infections","volume":"25","author":"Suchitra","year":"2007","journal-title":"Indian J. Med. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"1","article-title":"Employer attitudes towards older workers: Survey results","volume":"3","author":"Munnell","year":"2006","journal-title":"Work Oppor. Older Am. Ser."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhin.2008.02.007","article-title":"Knowledge and attitude toward Crimean\u2013Congo haemorrhagic fever in occupationally at-risk Iranian healthcare workers","volume":"69","author":"Rahnavardi","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Hosp. Infect."}],"container-title":["Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/2\/2\/16\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:39:03Z","timestamp":1760207943000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/2\/2\/16"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,6,14]]},"references-count":23,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,6]]}},"alternative-id":["tropicalmed2020016"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/tropicalmed2020016","relation":{},"ISSN":["2414-6366"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2414-6366"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,6,14]]}}}