Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Special Pathogens Laboratory, Atlanta, GA (1975–1981) and Division of Vector-Borne Viral Diseases, Fort Collins, CO (1981–1988)
Patricia Ann Webb (5 April 1925 – 24 January 2005[1]) was a microbiologist known for her work in characterising and classifying severe contagious diseases including
Machupo,
Lassa and
Ebola viruses.[2]
Early life and education
Webb was born in
Cambridge, England in 1925. Her father was medical doctor and
Oxford Professor of Pathology Robert A. Webb. She was sent to the United States in 1940 in an evacuation during the
Blitz.[1]
Webb began her virology research on
western equine encephalomyelitis, an outbreak of which affected many children in California in 1952.[3] Between 1955 and 1961, she worked on isolating previously unknown viruses associated fevers in
Kuala Lumpur at the US Army Medical Research Unit.[1]
In 1961, Webb joined the
US Public Health Service to investigate rhinoviruses. She worked at the
NIH's Middle America Research Unit (MARU) in
Panama in 1962–1963 on establishing the origins of viral infections, and the role of rodents in particular. MARU closed in 1975 and Webb moved to the
CDC in
Atlanta. She began to focus on hemorrhagic fevers including Lassa and Ebola.[1] A blood sample from a patient was sent to her lab, but it had cracked during shipping. Webb performed analysis despite the sample's condition, leading to the identification of the Ebola virus.[4] She is credited as one of the discovers of the virus.[5]
Webb worked at a field station in
Kenema, Sierra Leone as of 1978 to study the Lassa virus, testing the efficacy of
ribavarin as a treatment.[6] She spent the last years of her career from 1981 to 1988 at the CDC Division of Vector-Borne Viral Diseases in
Fort Collins investigating transmission vectors between humans and livestock for viral infections.[1] She also worked on models for HIV transmission based on the suggestion that bedbugs could be a potential vector.[7]
Webb retired to the
UK in 1988.[1] She was described by her peers as being a diligent, disciplined and organised worker, supportive of her younger colleagues. She hosted dinner parties and social events for her staff in the field.[2]
Webb's first husband was rickettsiologist Bennett Elisberg.[2] Her second husband was virologist
Karl Johnson.[1] She had two sons.[1]
Webb, Patricia Ann (1965-09-01). "
Properties of Machupo Virus". The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 14 (5): 799–802.
Murphy, Frederick A.; Webb, Patricia A.; Johnson, Karl M.; Whitfield, Sylvia G.; Chappell, W. Adrian (1970-10-01). "
Arenoviruses in Vero Cells: Ultrastructural Studies". Journal of Virology. 6 (4): 507–518.
PETERS, C. J.; KUEHNE, R. W.; MERCADO, R. R.; LE BOW, R. H.; SPERTZEL, R. O.; WEBB, P. A. (1974-06-01). "
HEMORRHAGIC FEVER IN COCHABAMBA, BOLIVIA, 1971". American Journal of Epidemiology. 99 (6): 425–433.
Pfau, C. J.; Bergold, G. H.; Casals, J.; Johnson, K. M.; Murphy, F. A.; Pedersen, I. R.; Rawls, W. E.; Rowe, W. P.; Webb, P. A.; Weissenbacher, M. C. (1974). "
Arenaviruses". Intervirology. 4 (4): 207–213.
Heymann, D. L.; Weisfeld, J. S.; Webb, P. A.; Johnson, K. M.; Cairns, T.; Berquist, H. (1980-09-01). "
Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever: Tandala, Zaire, 1977–1978". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 142 (3): 372–376.
McCormick, Joseph B.; King, Isabel J.; Webb, Patricia A.; Scribner, Curtis L.; Craven, Robert B.; Johnson, Karl M.; Elliott, Luanne H.; Belmont-Williams, Rose (1986-01-02). "
Lassa Fever". New England Journal of Medicine. 314 (1): 20–26.
Webb, Patricia Ann; Holbrook, Frederick R. (1988). "Chapter 47: Vesicular Stomatitis". The Arboviruses: Epidemiology and Ecology. CRC Press.
^McCormick, Joseph B.; King, Isabel J.; Webb, Patricia A.; Scribner, Curtis L.; Craven, Robert B.; Johnson, Karl M.; Elliott, Luanne H.; Belmont-Williams, Rose (1986-01-02).
"Lassa Fever". New England Journal of Medicine. 314 (1): 20–26.
doi:
10.1056/NEJM198601023140104.
ISSN0028-4793.
PMID3940312.