Ebola outbreak continues unmonitored
12:50 25 January 02
Emma Young
Negotiations to allow international medical experts back into a remote village in Gabon to monitor an outbreak of Ebola have failed. The World Health Organization says it will continue to push for access to the region, to monitor infections and deaths, and to help prevent the outbreak spreading.
The international medical team, including experts from the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was forced out of Mekambo on 8 January, following threats from local inhabitants. The villagers reportedly objected to being prevented from ritually removing organs from corpses before burial - a practice that could allow the Ebola virus to spread.
Unverified Gabon government figures suggest 23 people have died of Ebola in the country, since the outbreak began in December 2001. Eleven deaths have also been verified in villages in DR Congo, close to the Gabon border.
The WHO says it is now unable to monitor about 200 people thought to have come into contact with known Ebola victims.
"We're still talking to the government about getting safe access to Mekambo," says WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl. "The only way to deal with this outbreak accurately and completely is to be there."
The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with blood or bodily secretions. Between 50 and 90 per cent of people infected with the virus bleed uncontrollably and die. There is no cure.
12:50 25 January 02
12:50 25 January 02
Emma Young
Negotiations to allow international medical experts back into a remote village in Gabon to monitor an outbreak of Ebola have failed. The World Health Organization says it will continue to push for access to the region, to monitor infections and deaths, and to help prevent the outbreak spreading.
The international medical team, including experts from the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was forced out of Mekambo on 8 January, following threats from local inhabitants. The villagers reportedly objected to being prevented from ritually removing organs from corpses before burial - a practice that could allow the Ebola virus to spread.
Unverified Gabon government figures suggest 23 people have died of Ebola in the country, since the outbreak began in December 2001. Eleven deaths have also been verified in villages in DR Congo, close to the Gabon border.
The WHO says it is now unable to monitor about 200 people thought to have come into contact with known Ebola victims.
"We're still talking to the government about getting safe access to Mekambo," says WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl. "The only way to deal with this outbreak accurately and completely is to be there."
The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with blood or bodily secretions. Between 50 and 90 per cent of people infected with the virus bleed uncontrollably and die. There is no cure.
12:50 25 January 02