Ebola death toll rises in Gabon, CongoCopyright
2001 Reuters
December 26, 2001
LIBREVILLE, Gabon--The death toll from an Ebola virus outbreak in the central African countries of Gabon and Congo has risen to 18 and health specialists fear more cases may develop.
Ebola is passed on through contact with body fluids and 90 percent of those it infects bleed to death within days. There is no vaccine and no known cure.
The first death from Ebola in a forested region around Mekambo in northern Gabon was reported two weeks ago and the virus has since spread to neighbouring villages in the Congo Republic.
"As of December 23, 27 confirmed cases, including 18 deaths have been reported. An additional seven suspected cases are under investigation in Gabon," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement late on Monday. The previous WHO death toll on Friday had been 15.
"Currently 203 contacts are under active follow up. We anticipate one or more cases may develop among these contacts," said the U.N. body, whose experts are helping track anyone who might have been near any victims.
Early diagnosis of Ebola is difficult because victims suffer symptoms similar to flu. The virus only becomes apparent in the last stages, when it eats through the victim's veins and arteries, causing massive internal bleeding.
Scientists believe the disease can also be caught by eating meat from infected apes like chimpanzees and gorillas -- which are regarded as a delicacy in Gabon and especially popular around the Christmas festive season.
The virus killed at least 66 people in a 1996 epidemic in an area of Gabon near Mekambo. It was first known to have struck the country in 1994, when it left more than 20 dead.
After the initial Ebola outbreak at the beginning of December, four villages in Gabon were put under quarantine, but not soon enough to stop one infected woman from heading towards the neighbouring Congo Republic.
The WHO said 15 of the 27 cases are in Gabon and another 109 contacts were being followed there. The 12 other cases are all in Congo where another 94 people are being monitored.
Ebola is named after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it was discovered in 1976, and where a 1995 epidemic killed more than 250 people.