Will she turn up in NYC? Or Maybe Washington DC?
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Ebola Victim Disappears From Gabon By SERGE MABIKA, Associated
Press Writer
LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) - A woman infected with the deadly Ebola (news - web
sites) virus has disappeared from her village in the Central African nation of
Gabon, and health officials fear she fled to neighboring Republic of Congo and
could spread the disease.
Villagers told local authorities the woman believed she had been bewitched and
left the remote village of Ntolo to join relatives on the other side of the
border, said provincial health director Dr. Prosper Abessolo-Mengue.
The woman is one of at least two people infected with Ebola in a recent
outbreak that has killed 10 others in Gabon. Authorities have been trying to
keep the highly contagious disease from spreading beyond the affected region in
the remote northeastern province of Ogooue Ivindo.
Upon hearing about the woman's disappearance, Gabon authorities notified their
counterparts in Republic of Congo. They asked for help in finding her and in
restricting movement across the border.
``We are very worried,'' Republic of Congo Health Minister Leon Opimbat said by
telephone from the capital, Brazzaville.
Health officials in Republic of Congo were educating the local population about
Ebola and encouraging them to report any suspect fever outbreaks, he said.
A World Health Organization (news - web sites) team arrived Tuesday in the
capital, Libreville, and was expected to travel in the coming days to 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.
A quarantine has not been imposed on the affected region, but local authorities
are monitoring movement to and from the area, Abessolo-Mengue said. Journalists
have been barred from traveling there.
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. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011212/wl/gabon_ebola_1.
