But health officials say outbreak almost under control.
BRAZZAVILLE, April 9, 2003 — The death toll in a deadly Ebola outbreak has risen to 120 in northwestern Congo Republic, the central African country’s health ministry said on Wednesday. An official at the ministry said 135 cases have been recorded since the virus, which has no known cure, struck in January in the dense forests of Cuvette-Ouest, some 440 miles north of the capital, Brazzaville. Authorities say the disease has now almost been brought under control.
Ebola is passed on by infected body fluids and kills between 50 and 90 percent of victims, depending on the strain. It starts with a high fever and headache and can lead to massive internal bleeding.
Authorities have cordoned off the affected areas and local people have been told not to touch bodies of those who have died and not to eat primates.
Scientists believe the outbreak was triggered by the consumption of infected monkey meat. Bush meat is a staple among forest communities, and a delicacy in many cities.
The epidemic has also wiped out nearly two-thirds of the gorillas in the Lossi reserve in Cuvette-Ouest.
Ebola killed 73 people in Gabon and in the Congo in an epidemic from October 2001 to February 2002.
Ebola takes its name from a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo where it was discovered in 1976. The worst outbreak was in that country in 1995 when more than 250 people died.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a severe, often fatal disease in humans and other primates that has appeared sporadically since its was first seen in 1976 in Zaire, where it killed 318 people. It is caused by infection with the Ebola virus, named after a river near where it was first identified.
Areas of occurrence
The exact origin and location of the Ebola virus is unknown.
But researchers believe the virus is maintained in an animal
host in Africa. Confirmed cases of Ebola in humans have been
reported in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon,
Sudan and the Ivory Coast. Ebola-Reston virus, a strain that
causes disease in nonhuman primates but not people, sparked a
scare when it caused severe illness and death in monkeys
imported to research facilities in the United States from the Philippines. Several laboratory researchers became infected
with the virus but did not become ill.
Transmission
The virus can be transmitted through blood or other bodily
secretions. People can also be infected with Ebola through
contact with contaminated objects such as needles. The virus
has shown an ability to spread through airborne particles
under research conditions, but this type of transmission
hasn't been seen in a real-world setting.
Symptoms
Within a few days of infection, patients usually experience
high fever, headache, muscle aches, stomach pain, fatigue and
diarrhea. Patients may also experience less common symptoms
such as a sore throat, hiccups, rash, red and itchy eyes,
vomiting blood and bloody diarrhea. Within one week of
infection, patients often experience chest pain, shock and
death. Other symptoms may include blindness and bleeding.
Treatment
There is no standard treatment for Ebola fever. Currently,
patients receive supportive therapy, including balancing their
fluids and electrolytes, maintaining their blood pressure and
breathing, and treating them for any complicating infections
Source: Reuters & MSNBC Research
