WHO confirms Ebola outbreak in Congo, nine dead

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WHO confirms Ebola outbreak in Congo, nine dead
Wed May 18, 2005 12:37 PM BST
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BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Ebola has returned to the Republic of Congo, killing nine people since the end of April, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday after tests confirmed the presence of the deadly virus.

"The results (of laboratory tests) came in yesterday ... It is indeed a case of Ebola," said Adamou Yada, WHO's representative in Congo, which has faced serious outbreaks of the disease in the past. Nearly 150 people died in 2003.

"Since the beginning (of the outbreak), we have registered 11 cases, including nine deaths," Yada said in the capital Brazzaville.

The latest outbreak is in the forested Cuvette-Ouest region, near the border with Gabon, where the 2003 outbreak struck.




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http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-05-18T113745Z_01_SPI841844_RTRUKOC_0_HEALTH-CONGO-EBOLA.xml

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1. Ebola-hit town quarantined in Congo Republic

Ebola-hit town quarantined in Congo Republic
19 May 2005 20:13:49 GMT

Source: Reuters

BRAZZAVILLE, May 19 (Reuters) - A town at the centre of an outbreak of Ebola in Republic of Congo has been cordoned off but the number of cases of the deadly disease had not changed, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said on Thursday.

"The head of the district has placed Etoumbi in quarantine. Nothing goes in or out of the locality anymore, and the government will bring food for the population from tomorrow," said Adamou Yada, WHO's representative in Congo.

The latest outbreak of the virus has already killed nine people since the end of April in the forested northwestern Cuvette-Ouest region, where nearly 150 people died from Ebola in 2003. Neighbouring Gabon also had outbreaks in 2001 and 2002.

Yada said two other people infected with the disease appeared to be recovering. He said the number of people being monitored for the disease had dropped to 65 from around 80. There is no known cure for Ebola, which is passed on by infected body fluids and kills between 50 and 90 percent of victims, depending on the strain.




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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19172867.htm

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2. Marburg Toll in Angola Rises to 345

Marburg Toll in Angola Rises to 345

Recombinomics Commentary
May 20, 2005

The May 18 update from the Angola Ministry of health includes 3 new Marburg cases and 2 news deaths recorded on May 17, raising the total number of cases to 345 and the total deaths to 319. All of the cases are in the township of Uige. However on May 17 eight previously reported cases were discarded. These prior reported cases appear to have been deaths because removal of eight fatalities would lower the number of cases to 337 and the number of deaths to 311, which would match recently announced figures.

All 8 discarded fatalities were in the township of Uige. Thus, the number of new cases and deaths are being reported at the rate of 2-4 per day, but previously recorded fatalities are removed from the totals. The removals sometimes are listed in the discarded column, like the 8 listed above, and other times the numbers are simply reduced without explantion (i.e. the total for May 16 should have been 344 based on the 4 deaths on the priovious day and no discarded cases - however, the number listed on the May 18 was only 342, so the total was reduced by two without explanation and an additional 8 were discarded from the township of Uige).

Thus, the total number of cases and deaths move up slowly, and some days the total number dead declines, because more fatal cases are removed than added.





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http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05200501/Marburg_Toll_345.html