Patricia Ann Webb

Patricia Ann Webb (5 April 1925 – 24 January 2005 ) was a microbiologist known for her work in characterising and classifying severe contagious diseases including Machupo, Lassa and Ebola viruses.

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. Between 1955 and 1961, she worked on isolating previously unknown viruses associated fevers in Kuala Lumpur at the US Army Medical Research Unit. She is credited as one of the discovers of the virus.

Webb worked at a field station in Kenema, Sierra Leone as of 1978 to study the Lassa virus, testing the efficacy of ribavirin as a treatment. 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.

Awards and honours

1969 Gorgas Medal (shared with Karl Johnson)

Personal life Webb retired to the UK in 1988. 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.

Webb's first husband was rickettsiologist Bennett Elisberg. Her second husband was virologist Karl Johnson. She had two sons.

Selected publications

Cohen, Robert; O'Connor, Robert E.; Townsend, Thomas E.; Webb, Patricia Ann; McKey, Robert W. (1953-07-01). "Western equine encephalomyelitis: Clinical observations in infants and children". The Journal of Pediatrics. 43 (1): 26–34. 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. Wulff, Herta; Lange, James V.; Webb, Patricia A. (1978). "Interrelationships Among Arenaviruses Measured by Indirect Immunofluorescence". Intervirology. 9 (6): 344–350. 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. Breman, Joel G.; Johnson, Karl M.; van der Groen, Guido; Robbins, C. Brian; Szczeniowski, Mark V.; Ruti, Kalisa; Webb, Patricia A.; Meier, Florian; Heymann, David L.; Ebola Virus Study Teams (1999-02-01). "A Search for Ebola Virus in Animals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon: Ecologic, Virologic, and Serologic Surveys, 1979–1980". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 179 (Supplement_1): S139–S147.