A single case observation: Is the Ebola virus soluble glycoprotein an indicator of viral recrudescence?

This case study investigated the long-term expression dynamics of Ebola virus (EBOV) soluble glycoprotein (sGP) in the serum of a patient who got infected with EBOV in West Africa and recovered from the acute Ebola virus disease (EVD) at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD, USA. Samples from this patient were collected during acute EVD and during convalescence up to day 361 following illness onset. While blood samples were negative by RT-qPCR after recovery from acute EVD, we detected small amounts of EBOV sGP in the serum of the patient long after recovery potentially indicating viral recrudescence. As this is only observed in a single patient, additional longitudinal patient samples are needed to confirm our hypothesis that EBOV sGP may be an indicator of viral recrudescence long after recovery from acute EVD.