Ebola victim disappears from Gabon

Published Dec 12, 2001

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Libreville, Gabon - A woman infected with the deadly Ebola disease disappeared overnight from a remote frontier village, raising fears she had fled to the neighbouring Republic of Congo, health officials said on Tuesday.

Villagers told local authorities the woman believed she had been bewitched and left Ntolo to join relatives on the other side of the border, said provincial health director Dr Prosper Abessolo-Mengue.

Gabon authorities notified their counterparts in Republic of Congo, requesting assistance locating the woman and restricting movement across the border.

"We are very worried," Republic of Congo Health Minister Leon Opimbat said by telephone from the capital, Brazzaville. "Early this morning, we sent a message to the local authorities to locate this person."

Health officials in Republic of Congo were educating the local population about Ebola and encouraging them to report any suspect fever outbreaks, he said.

The highly contagious disease has already killed 10 people in Gabon and infected two others - including the missing woman, the government said.

Tests were still being conducted on those who had come into contact with the victims, so the numbers could increase.

A World Health Organization team arrived on Tuesday in the capital, Libreville, and was expected to travel in the coming days to the affected region in the remote northeastern province of Ogooue Ivindo.

The five-member team - including experts from France and the United States - will help local authorities isolate and treat victims, as well as distribute protective equipment like gloves and masks to prevent contact with the bodily fluids of patients.

Gabon's government first reported it suspected an outbreak last Tuesday. WHO confirmed on Sunday the disease was Ebola, which has similar symptoms to other, less deadly hemorrhagic fevers.

While a quarantine has not been imposed on the region, local authorities are monitoring movement to and from the area, Abessolo-Mengue said. Journalists have not been allowed to travel to the region.

Ogooue Ivindo is one of the most thinly populated provinces in Gabon, with tiny villages surrounded by dense jungle. Ebola last struck the region in 1996-97, killing 45 of the 60 people infected.

The current outbreak has affected four villages - Ntolo, Mendemba, Ilahounene and Ekata.

The first death was recorded on December 2. The dead included eight members of that man's extended family and a nurse who had treated at least one of the victims - a typical pattern for Ebola, which spreads quickly to people coming in contact with the patients or their bodies.

This is the first documented outbreak of Ebola since last year, when 224 people - including health workers - died from the virus in Uganda.

Ebola is one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind, causing death in 50 to 90 percent of all clinically ill cases. But it usually kills its victims faster than it can spread, burning out before it can reach too far.

The virus is passed through contact with bodily fluids, such as mucus, saliva and blood, but is not airborne. It incubates for four to 10 days before flu-like symptoms set in. Eventually, the virus causes severe internal bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea.

There is no cure, but patients treated early for dehydration have a good chance of survival.

WHO says more than 800 people have died of the disease since the virus was first identified in 1976 in western Sudan and in a nearby region of Zaire, now Congo. - Sapa-AP

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