(HTLH) Ebola in the Congo February 26th 2002

[The Flying Dutchman]

<B><center>Ebola kills hundreds of endangered gorillas</B>
(Filed: 22/02/2003)</center>


The Ebola virus is sweeping through the gorilla population of north-western Congo, killing hundreds of the protected species, say scientists.

"This is an ecological catastrophe," said the Spanish primate expert Magdalena Bermejo in Libreville, Gabon.

Some 500 of the 800 gorillas registered in the Lorri gorilla sanctuary 25 miles from the Republic of Congo's border with Gabon had died in five months, she said. The haemorrhagic fever has since January also killed 67 villagers in the region, where bush meat forms part of the diet.

The equatorial forests of Congo and Gabon are home to about 80 per cent of the world's plains gorilla population, totalling about 75,000 animals. They were "key to the survival of the species", said Ms Bermejo.

Health officials in Congo have quarantined the densely forested region of Cuvette-Ouest, stopping anyone without a permit from travelling between villages in an attempt to contain the outbreak among humans.

"Ebola leads us to fear a catastrophic decline in the great apes population of central Africa," said Conrad Aveling of Ecofac, a conservation programme financed by the European Union.



http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/...world.html


<B><center>Ebola outbreak confirmed in Congo
Ebola victims flee from health workers</B>
Last Updated Mon, 24 Feb 2003 10:54:38</center>
BRAZZAVILLE, CONGO - United Nations health officials have confirmed that Ebola is killing dozens of people in the Republic of Congo.

The area hardest hit is the isolated Cuvette West region of the country, where doctors say there is little understanding of the deadly virus among the local population.

Inhabitants of the region are running away in fear from teams of emergency health workers, accusing them of bringing Ebola into the area.

Most of the 100 people thought to be infected are unwilling to be treated.

This latest outbreak of highly contagious hemorrhagic fever has killed about 60 people in the forested region of the tiny central African country.

Health officials fear that without medical intervention the disease could easily spread.

The ministry of health believes the victims contracted Ebola by eating infected gorillas and chimps from the surrounding forest.

Wild animals dying off in the area tested positive for the virus as far back as December. The human casualties began two weeks ago.

This is the second outbreak of the disease in the area in two years. Congolese authorities have reacted by closing off the region, forbidding public gatherings and shutting down schools and churches.


www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/0...ola_030223


MartinRichard
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Re: Ebola outbreak confirmed in Congo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ebola: 76 die in Congo
February 25, 2003
The Congolese government said on Monday that 76 people were now known to have died in an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the country's northwest.
The latest figures, based on 93 cases that have so far been identified, increases the death toll from the 69 confirmed deaths announced last Friday.

The disease has so far been confined to an area near the towns of Kelle and Mbomo, close to the Gabonese border in the densely forested Cuvette-Ouest district of the Congo Republic, which lies to the west of the much larger Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

"We haven't recorded a single case in the capital," said Congolese Health Minister Alain Moka. "The epidemic is still confined to the department of Cuvette Ouest."

Cuvette-Ouest region quarantined off
The government has placed epidemiological surveillance units in the capital's hospitals, backed by the World Health Organisation, to give early warning of any further outbreaks.

Health officials in Congo have slapped a quarantine on the densely forested Cuvette-Ouest region, stopping anybody without special permits from travelling from village to village in a bid to contain the outbreak among humans.

The authorities are looking for a man believed to have travelled to Brazzaville after coming into contact with the body of an Ebola victim who died on February 7 in Kelle.

Outbreak due to ingested gorilla meat
Health experts believe the epidemic began when local people ate infected gorilla meat. Congolese radio and health officials are warning local people in both the local Lingala language and in French to abstain from eating the meat of primates or other animals found dead in the bush, and to avoid contact with the sick or with dead people.

Ministry officials say the quarantine measures are beginning to result in food shortages in the affected areas, which may cause people to go in search of supplies, potentially spreading the virus. The government has sent five tons of rice and oil to the region.

Gorillas, antelope and other bushmeat form part of the diet of local tribes, who have also hindered efforts to help patients get over Ebola symptoms and to contain the outbreak because many blame it on witchcraft and even health workers.

No cure for Ebola
There is no known medical cure for Ebola, which begins with high fever, diarrhoea, bleeding from the nose and gums, and can eventually induce massive internal haemorrhages, killing up to 90 percent of people it infects.

Both Congo and Gabon have already been struck by Ebola. Cuvette-Ouest was hit by an Ebola epidemic between October 2001 and March 2002 in which 43 people died in Congo and 53 in a neighbouring region of Gabon. – (Sapa)

www.health24.co.za/news.a...ntID=21135

MartinRichard
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Re: Ebola outbreak confirmed in Congo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ebola Toll Reaches 95 Cases, 77 Deaths in Cuvette-Ouest Region

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
NEWS
February 26, 2003
Posted to the web February 26, 2003
Nairobi

As at Wednesday, 95 cases of the deadly Ebola virus have been confirmed in the Cuvette-Ouest Region of the Republic of Congo (ROC), resulting thus far in 77 deaths, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported.

WHO further reported that it had identified 149 other individuals who had been in contact with people suffering from the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever, which has been concentrated in the remote forest districts of Etoumbi, Mbomo and Kelle, near the border with Gabon.

The ROC Red Cross, which has 62 volunteers trained in techniques to combat Ebola, has been involved in assessing the situation on the ground together with the health ministry, the WHO and other agencies. They have been attempting to heighten awareness of the disease, identify suspected cases, enforce isolation and infection control measures and promote good practices among the local population, including not eating bushmeat or touching dead animals, and adopting safe practices during funeral rites.

Meanwhile, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Wednesday launched an appeal for US $130,000 to help the ROC Red Cross to monitor some 50,000 people for three months in remote parts of the country.

"Ebola is devastating and terrifying. It can kill those who care for the sick, and those who perform funeral rites," said the International Federation's senior epidemiologist, Dr Bernard Moriniere, in a Federation statement issued on Monday.

"Enforcing effective control measures while establishing trust and respecting the fears, traditions and beliefs of the community is very difficult in a context of death and despair," Moriniere added. "Community-based Red Cross volunteers can play a crucial role as a trusted bridge that is often lacking in such situations."

The Federation said that Ebola was characterised by fever, diarrhoea, severe blood loss, and intense fatigue, and transmitted through direct contact with body fluids of infected persons or other primates. There is no cure, and between 50 percent and 90 percent of victims die. The best way of halting its spread was through prevention and prompt detection and isolation of suspected cases, the Federation added.

Accordingly, the Brazzaville government quarantined the Cuvette-Ouest Region on 13 February. However, WHO said on Wednesday that the movement of people trying to escape the epidemic had remained a source of concern.

Authorities were first alerted to a possible Ebola outbreak when a band of gorillas in the region began dying. Tests carried out on the bodies confirmed that they had died of Ebola. The current outbreak is believed to have been caused by villagers eating primates infected by Ebola.

http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/new...la22.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/02/22/ixworld.html

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

<B><center>Ebola: 76 die in Congo</B>
February 25, 2003</center
The Congolese government said on Monday that 76 people were now known to have died in an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the country's northwest.
The latest figures, based on 93 cases that have so far been identified, increases the death toll from the 69 confirmed deaths announced last Friday.

The disease has so far been confined to an area near the towns of Kelle and Mbomo, close to the Gabonese border in the densely forested Cuvette-Ouest district of the Congo Republic, which lies to the west of the much larger Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

"We haven't recorded a single case in the capital," said Congolese Health Minister Alain Moka. "The epidemic is still confined to the department of Cuvette Ouest."

Cuvette-Ouest region quarantined off
The government has placed epidemiological surveillance units in the capital's hospitals, backed by the World Health Organisation, to give early warning of any further outbreaks.

Health officials in Congo have slapped a quarantine on the densely forested Cuvette-Ouest region, stopping anybody without special permits from travelling from village to village in a bid to contain the outbreak among humans.

The authorities are looking for a man believed to have travelled to Brazzaville after coming into contact with the body of an Ebola victim who died on February 7 in Kelle.

Outbreak due to ingested gorilla meat
Health experts believe the epidemic began when local people ate infected gorilla meat. Congolese radio and health officials are warning local people in both the local Lingala language and in French to abstain from eating the meat of primates or other animals found dead in the bush, and to avoid contact with the sick or with dead people.

Ministry officials say the quarantine measures are beginning to result in food shortages in the affected areas, which may cause people to go in search of supplies, potentially spreading the virus. The government has sent five tons of rice and oil to the region.

Gorillas, antelope and other bushmeat form part of the diet of local tribes, who have also hindered efforts to help patients get over Ebola symptoms and to contain the outbreak because many blame it on witchcraft and even health workers.

No cure for Ebola
There is no known medical cure for Ebola, which begins with high fever, diarrhoea, bleeding from the nose and gums, and can eventually induce massive internal haemorrhages, killing up to 90 percent of people it infects.

Both Congo and Gabon have already been struck by Ebola. Cuvette-Ouest was hit by an Ebola epidemic between October 2001 and March 2002 in which 43 people died in Congo and 53 in a neighbouring region of Gabon. – (Sapa)

http://www.health24.co.za/news.a...ntID=21135

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

<B><center>Ebola Toll Reaches 95 Cases, 77 Deaths in Cuvette-Ouest Region</B>
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
NEWS
February 26, 2003
Posted to the web February 26, 2003
Nairobi </center>

As at Wednesday, 95 cases of the deadly Ebola virus have been confirmed in the Cuvette-Ouest Region of the Republic of Congo (ROC), resulting thus far in 77 deaths, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported.

WHO further reported that it had identified 149 other individuals who had been in contact with people suffering from the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever, which has been concentrated in the remote forest districts of Etoumbi, Mbomo and Kelle, near the border with Gabon.

The ROC Red Cross, which has 62 volunteers trained in techniques to combat Ebola, has been involved in assessing the situation on the ground together with the health ministry, the WHO and other agencies. They have been attempting to heighten awareness of the disease, identify suspected cases, enforce isolation and infection control measures and promote good practices among the local population, including not eating bushmeat or touching dead animals, and adopting safe practices during funeral rites.

Meanwhile, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Wednesday launched an appeal for US $130,000 to help the ROC Red Cross to monitor some 50,000 people for three months in remote parts of the country.

"Ebola is devastating and terrifying. It can kill those who care for the sick, and those who perform funeral rites," said the International Federation's senior epidemiologist, Dr Bernard Moriniere, in a Federation statement issued on Monday.

"Enforcing effective control measures while establishing trust and respecting the fears, traditions and beliefs of the community is very difficult in a context of death and despair," Moriniere added. "Community-based Red Cross volunteers can play a crucial role as a trusted bridge that is often lacking in such situations."

The Federation said that Ebola was characterised by fever, diarrhoea, severe blood loss, and intense fatigue, and transmitted through direct contact with body fluids of infected persons or other primates. There is no cure, and between 50 percent and 90 percent of victims die. The best way of halting its spread was through prevention and prompt detection and isolation of suspected cases, the Federation added.

Accordingly, the Brazzaville government quarantined the Cuvette-Ouest Region on 13 February. However, WHO said on Wednesday that the movement of people trying to escape the epidemic had remained a source of concern.

Authorities were first alerted to a possible Ebola outbreak when a band of gorillas in the region began dying. Tests carried out on the bodies confirmed that they had died of Ebola. The current outbreak is believed to have been caused by villagers eating primates infected by Ebola.

http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200302260256.html

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

<B><center>Congolese Kill Teachers Accused of Ebola Spell</B>
Fri February 21, 2003 08:41 AM ET</center>
BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Congolese villagers have stoned and beaten to death four teachers accused of casting an evil spell to cause an outbreak of the deadly Ebola disease that has killed nearly 70 people, a local official said Friday.
The outbreak of Ebola in the districts of Kelle and Mbomo near the central African country's northern border with Gabon is thought by scientists to have been caused by the consumption of infected monkey meat.

But many locals believe occult forces are at work.

"In Kelle, people continue to believe that the Ebola disease is a spell that has been cast on them by witches, and four teachers accused of being the cause of the disease have been beaten and stoned to death," said Dieudonne Hossie, a local official. He did not say when the teachers were killed.

"We call on the people of Kelle to be calm. It is the Ebola virus which is raging in the area. It is not an evil spell, it is a scientifically proven virus," Hossie, who was speaking on the official Radio-Congo, said.


http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2266409

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

<B><center>Stalked by the Ebola virus</B></center>

As fears rise over the savage spread of a fatal infection, Fred Bridgland in Johannesburg reports on the battle to save man and beast in the heart of the Congo

VILLAGERS in the Republic of Congo-Brazzaville's more remote parts have been fleeing their homes as World Health Organisation experts, clad from head to toe in futuristic protective white suits, arrive to investigate a suspected outbreak of deadly Ebola fever.
Squads of WHO and government medical experts are attempting to draw blood samples to determine whether a viral infection that has killed more than 50 people is indeed Ebola. Passed on by infected blood, saliva and other body fluids, Ebola is one of the deadliest viruses known to man. It kills anywhere between 50% to 95% of its victims through massive internal and external bleeding, depending on the viral strain. There is no treatment, or cure.

The current outbreak, 440 miles north of the capital Brazzaville and near the border with Gabon, began spreading among villagers after they butchered and ate the meat of infected gorillas. So-called 'bush meat' -- gorilla, monkey, antelope -- has been a staple part of the local diet for centuries.

More than 80% of a clan of gorillas in the nearby forests of the 100 square mile Lossi Gorilla Sanctuary have recently died of Ebola. The Lossi sanctuary was created at the request of the villagers when they realised that the long-term benefits from gorilla viewing by tourists far outweighed any short-term benefits from hunting.

But the catastrophic fall in the population of lowland gorillas in Lossi and the more famous 5250 square mile Odzala National Park, to the southwest, is threatening these magnificent animals at the very heart of their range in central Africa.

Two Spanish primatologists, who have been studying eight gorilla families in a 15 square mile area of Lossi for the past decade, say all 139 of the gorillas have simply disappeared, apparently victims of Ebola. Two of the missing gorilla families had been habituated for tourism viewing. They were the first lowland gorillas ever to be habituated in central Africa and generated much-needed revenue for villagers.

WHO's Geneva-based spokesman on infectious diseases, Ian Simpson, said medical teams are operating in the villages of Kele, Yembelangoye and Mbou. But he said WHO was not yet ready to confirm that an Ebola outbreak has occurred. 'There is no proof at this point that this is an outbreak of Ebola,' he said. 'We do know that there have been reports of haemorrhagic fever and that some of the symptoms are consistent with haemo rrhagic fever.'

Simpson said test results would be known by tomorrow. But health officials in the capital, Brazzaville, are adamant that it is an Ebola outbreak. Last month, more than 25 people died of the virus in a nearby village across the border in Gabon before the outbreak was contained. Previously, the last known Ebola outbreak was in 2001 when about 100 people died in Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville.

Authorities fear the death toll could be much higher than the 51 recorded so far. Because the villages are so remote, health officials have had difficulty in determining how many people have been infected.

Doctors say that outbreaks in the region are difficult to contain because tradition requires family members to wash the body of the deceased before burial and they therefore come into close contact with infected fluids.


Since Ebola was discovered in 1976, there have been periodic outbreaks throughout central and east Africa. But, horrific though they are, Ebola and other haemorrhagic fevers have been responsible for a tiny number of deaths -- around 1500 -- compared with the Aids virus, HIV.

However, the devastating speed at which Ebola strikes, its easy transmission from person to person and the resulting massive destruction of the liver, make the virus one of the most feared in the world, the stuff of nightmares. The disease is named after a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), where it was first recognised. The exact origin, locations and source (known as the 'natural reservoir') of the virus remain unknown. Although gorillas and chimpanzees have been the source of infection for humans, they are not thought to be the reservoir. One theory is that it might be a plant virus.

Meanwhile, churches, schools and government offices in Cuvette West, the province where the infected villages are located, have been closed and public gatherings banned. Health Minister Alain Moka said: 'Right now, the teams are having a lot of trouble working with the villagers, who believe the disease is a terrible curse. The population doesn't believe in Ebola.'

The villagers, mostly pygmies, have been panicking and fleeing when they see WHO workers approaching, bearing syringes, wearing heavy white boots and white protective suits topped by transparent fully enclosing helmets. A possible reason for the villagers' fear is the mistreatment they received at the hands of Gabonese troops who came to their area to contain an Ebola outbreak in 1996 and 1997.

The Ebola epidemic among the lowland gorillas appears to be spreading from west to east. William Karesh, head of the US Wildlife Conservation Society's Field Veterinary Programme, said there was no known way to contain the epidemic among animals.

'When people are infected we can educate them about the risk of touching or consuming dead or sick animals and, if they are sick, to immediately let authorities know so they can be isolated before they infect other people,' he said.

'But for animals, at this time, we have to let the disease run its course in the forest because there are no known treatments besides supportive care for infected humans.

'Humans definitely are the major source of spreading the disease among humans.

'The typical Ebola outbreak involves one or maybe two or three people contracting the disease from some source in the forest and then infecting family members and neighbours in a chain that can grow to hundreds of people.

'Similarly, our understanding of the social nature of chimps and gorillas suggest the same happens to them. One or a few become ill and then infect the other members of their family group. As the group is dying, some infected individuals may be left to wander off and join and infect another family group.'


http://www.sundayherald.com/31463

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

<B><center>Ebola May Spread in Republic of Congo</B>
By LOUIS OKAMBA
Associated Press Writer
February 19, 2003, 9:10 AM EST</center>

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo -- U.N. health officials confirmed Wednesday that a disease outbreak killing scores of people in the Republic of Congo was Ebola and warned that the highly lethal hemorrhagic fever could still be spreading.

"We're not suggesting that this is over or even contained. We're treating it as an active outbreak," said Iain Simpson, a World Health Organization spokesman in Geneva.

So far, 73 people have been infected, of whom 59 have died, according to WHO investigators. Government health officials in the tiny Central African nation report 80 cases with 67 deaths.

The Cuvette West region, where the deaths have occurred, has been quarantined by the government since last week.

Blood samples drawn from victims in the region tested positive for the Ebola virus, said Josef Mboussa, a top official in Republic of Congo's health ministry.

The disease is one of the world's deadliest, causing rapid death through massive blood loss in up to 90 percent of those infected. Ebola spreads through bodily fluids. Primates, hunted by many central Africans for food, can also carry the infection.

"There will probably be more deaths due to the complexity of the disease," said Mboussa.

Mboussa wasn't able to say if medical examiners were registering new infections in the region; the first reports of the illness reached the capital, Brazzaville, over two weeks ago.

Ebola's two- to 21-day incubation period makes it difficult to gauge how quickly the outbreak may still be moving, Simpson said.

The forested Cuvette West region has 30,000 inhabitants spread among provincial towns and small villages. The disease has centered in the villages of Kelle and Mbomo.

Efforts to investigate the outbreak are being stymied. Frantic villagers terrified by Ebola's horrific symptoms have fled from health workers in their head-to-toe protective suits.

Along with medical personnel, anthropologists have been sent to the region to help explain to the disease to people.

"The villagers are very scared; they see people getting sick and dying," said Simpson. "We're trying to get them to understand the situation."

Ebola killed 43 people in Republic of Congo and 53 others in Gabon between October 2001 and February 2002.

WHO says more than 1,000 people have died of Ebola since the virus was first identified in 1976 in western Sudan and in a region of Congo.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationw...9,0,1328991.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

<B><center>Ebola outbreak confirmed in Congo</B>
By Pascale Harter
BBC, Brazzaville</center>

The government of Congo-Brazzaville has now confirmed that it is the deadly Ebola virus which has claimed the lives of 64 people, in the north of the country near the border with Gabon.

The World Health Organisation in Congo says it is hopeful that international aid to fight the spread of the virus will now be forthcoming.

For the past four weeks the number of dead in the districts of Kelle and Mbomo has continued to climb daily, as the Ministry of Health and World Health Organisation have struggled to contain what they suspected was an outbreak of Ebola.

Confirmation came late last night, after blood samples from residents of Kelle were analysed in a Libreville laboratory, one of less than 10 in the world able to test for Ebola.

Appeal

Emergency teams of medical workers and Ebola experts from the WHO are already in place in the outbreak zone.

The government closed down the region to travel on Thursday and Gabon has shut its nearby border.


But Dr Lamine Sarr, country director of the WHO says the official confirmation means appeals for international aid to deal with the outbreak should now be answered.
The WHO and Congolese government desperately need funds and food to help the people of Kelle and Mbomo.

The isolation techniques used in containing the Ebola virus are expensive and with the border to Gabon closed, the local population has nowhere to buy food.

The Congolese Government has already appealed to the United Nations World Food Programme for help.

But only last month, the WFP warned that it was already hopelessly overstretched in providing food aid for 60,000 people who have fled ongoing fighting in the Pool Region of Congo.

Sorcery

But money and food are not the only problems WHO and Congolese government face in containing the Ebola outbreak.

Dr Sarr of WHO told the BBC that residents in the outbreak zone are still unwilling to co-operate with the medical teams.

Only one person with Ebola out of 16 confirmed cases, has agreed to be hospitalised.

There is little understanding of the virus among the local population, who believe the recent deaths are a result of sorcery or something brought in to the area by the medical teams.


http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2776719.stm

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

It occured to me that there some of the TB family might like to know what has happened this past week in the Congo. After all the Ebola virsus is but 24 hours away from CONUS.


<center>Quote:</center>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A hot virus from the rain forest lives within a twenty-four hour plane flight from every city on earth. All the earth's cities are connected by a web of airline routes. The web is a network. Once a virus hits the net, it can shoot anywhere in a day-Paris, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, wherever planes fly

The Hot Zone
by
Richard Preston

 

[FredFredson]

Years ago I read about the traditional treatment of Ebola.

The villagers would confine the victim to a hut left food for them outside. If they recovered fine, if not they burned the hut and buried the remains.

Turns out to be the best approach actually. The first recorded outbreak was made much worse because the Belgium doctors and nurses who were trying to help the victims unwittingly spread the virus!

Isolation, as cruel as it appears, works with this particular nasty.

F