Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Brazzaville (Fides) – Ebola disease strikes periodically in tropical forests taking a few dozen lives and then disappearing again. Unfortunately the health minister of the Republic of Congo, Alain Moka, has confirmed that it was Ebola which caused the death of 11 people recently in the northeast of the country. The disease struck in Mbombo district about, about 700 km north of the capital Brazzaville, near the border with Gabon. Other suspect cases have been identified and the area has been put under strict control. The same region was put in quarantine in 2002 when the virus – against which there is no vaccine – caused the death of 120 people. “Analysis in a specialised centre of blood samples taken from the victims – the minister said – have confirmed that it is Ebola”. The authorities say that a dead animal found in the forest and eaten by some of the local people may be the cause of the new outbreak of the deadly fever. Ebola Bone Breaking Fever is highly contagious and is transmitted from person to person through body fluids. It can cause serious interior haemorrhaging which is mortal in 90% of the cases. (AP) (21/11/2003 Fides Service; lines: 18 words: 214)
