- BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of
Congo (AP) - Medical experts were investigating a possible outbreak of
the deadly Ebola virus in the northern jungle of Republic of Congo amid
reports that 5 people had died, officials said on Tue 11 Jun 2002. The
victims, living in the northern village of Oloba, all had died during the
past week, said Stanislas Ebata-Mongo, head of the government's campaign
against Ebola. He said a government medical team was dispatched on Mon
10 Jun 2002 to Cuvette-Ouest province to take blood samples from the victims
to confirm if they had died of Ebola fever. World Health Organization (WHO)
officials already inside the country also left for the same area on Monday
to investigate the report.
-
- The last Ebola fever outbreak in the region went from
October 2001 to February 2002, killing 43 people in Republic of Congo and
53 others in neighboring Gabon, according to WHO. WHO stated that the [previous]
outbreak was sparked after contact with an infected gorilla. Apes can also
contract the virus and die as a result. Monkey and gorilla meat are frequently
consumed by civilians living in Central Africa. Authorities urged villagers
in the area to avoid bush meat during the last outbreak.
-
- Ebola hemorrhagic fever is one of the world's deadliest
viral diseases, causing death through massive blood loss in up to 90 percent
of those infected. [The virus] spreads through bodily fluids -- though
not the air -- and attacks internal organs, causing bloody diarrhea and
vomiting. Within 2 weeks, the victim usually dies from massive blood loss.
WHO says more than 1000 people have died of the disease since the virus
was first identified in 1976 in western Sudan and in a nearby region of
Congo [Zaire].
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