EBOLA - GABON (2)
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WER and Epidemiological Bulletin E.Mail subscription service
WHO EPIDEMIOLOGICAL BULLETIN, 20 FEBRUARY 1996
EBOLA HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER, GABON (19 FEBRUARY):
THE DIAGNOSIS HAS NOW BEEN CONFIRMED BY THE CENTRE INTERNATIONAL DE
RECHERCHES MEDICAL DE FRANCEVILLE IN GABON AND THE WHO COLLABORATING CENTRE
AT THE PASTEUR INSTITUTE IN PARIS. AS OF TODAY 20 CASES AND 7 SUSPECT
CASES HAVE BEEN REPORTED. 13 OF THESE CASES HAVE DIED. ALL CASES
COME FROM MAYIBOUT II, AN ISOLATED VILLAGE WITH SOME 150 INHABITANTS
SITUATED ABOUT 400 KMS EAST OF LIBREVILLE. 12 OF THE FATALITIES ARE
KNOWN TO HAVE HAD DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE BLOOD OF A DEAD CHIMPANZEE AND THE
13TH WAS A SIX-MONTH OLD CHILD OF ONE OF THE ORIGINAL 19 CASES.
THE INTERNATIONAL TEAM WHICH ARRIVED IN MAYIBOUT ON FRIDAY, 16 FEBRUARY, IS
INVESTIGATING ALL POSSIBLE CONTACTS OF THE PATIENTS, AS WELL AS RUMOURS OF
ILLNESS IN TWO NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 6 PERSONS WITH SYMPTOMS WHICH COULD
INDICATE EARLY EBOLA INFECTION HAVE BEEN PUT UNDER CLOSE SURVEILLANCE. A
SMALL FIELD LABORATORY IS BEING ESTABLISHED TO TEST BLOOD SPECIMENS.
FOR THE TIME BEING, WHO DOES NOT RECOMMEND ANY TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS TO OR
WITHIN GABON. IF PROPER ISOLATION OF ALL PERSONS WITH SUSPECTED EARLY
EBOLA INFECTION IS ENSURED THERE IS NO NEED FOR QUARANTINE MEASURES.
THE EARLY ACTION TAKEN BY THE GABONESE MINISTRY OF HEALTH WAS PROMPT AND
EFFECTIVE.
