Press Release WHO/12
19 February 1996
Scientists working on specimens from nine of the youths hospitalized in Makokou, the provincial capital of Ogooue-Ivindo in Gabon, have confirmed the initial diagnosis of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever by isolation of the Ebola virus. This was done at the Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville in Gabon and at the WHO Collaborating Centre in the Institute Pasteur in Paris. Both the Ministry of Health of Gabon and WHO have been officially informed.
As of today, there are 20 cases and 7 suspect cases of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Gabon. Thirteen of the cases have died.
All 20 cases come from Mayibout II, an isolated village with some 150 inhabitants which is situated some 400 kilometers east of the capital city, Libreville. Twelve of the dead have been confirmed to have had direct contact with the blood of a dead chimpanzee. The thirteenth, most recent death was a six-month old child of one of the original 19 cases. Another child of the same parent has developed fever and has been hospitalized in Makokou.
Of those 19 cases originally admitted in the Makokou provincial hospital on 5 and 6 February with symptoms of high fever, bloody diarrhoea and severely reddened eyes, 9 patients have died in the hospital and 3 back in their home village of Mayibout II. The average age of the patients was 18 years.
No cases of Ebola among the health personnel of the hospital have been registered, though some may have been exposed to the virus and could be infected.
The international team of medical experts with members from the Gabonese Ministry of Health, La Cooperation Française (the French Bilateral Aid Agency), the Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (Gabon), the Institute Pasteur (Paris) and the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in Mayibout II on Friday night, 16 February, after a nine-hour river trip by motorized pirogues.
The team is investigating all possible contacts of the patients, as well as rumours of illness in two neighboring villages: Mayibout I and Mvadi, a village of 800 inhabitants 10 kilometers from Mayibout II. Persons who accompanied the patients to the hospital in Makokou and who returned with the dead bodies to bury them are known to live in these two villages.
In Mayibout II, the international team has identified, isolated and put under close surveillance 6 persons with symptoms which could be early Ebola infection. A small field laboratory is being established in the village to test blood specimens from the local population suspected to have the infection.
In the Mayibout bush, a number of dead animals have been found: one chimpanzee, one wild cat, one antelope and two gorillas. A team of the Gabonese government is ensuring surveillance of the animal life in the affected area.
In Makokou, part of the international team is searching for 10 additional persons who accompanied patients from Mayibout II to the provincial hospital. This team is also searching for any persons with symptoms which could be early Ebola infection.
At the request of the Gabonese government, La Cooperation Française has sent to Gabon the necessary protection material, transport means and drugs. The logistics system of the French military in Gabon was also put as the disposal of the Gabonese Ministry of Health.
"For the time being, WHO does not recommend any travel restrictions to or within Gabon. If proper isolation of all persons with suspected early Ebola infection is ensured, there is no need for quarantine measures. The early action taken by the Gabonese Ministry of Health was prompt and effective. With the precautions taken, and investigation of the outbreak and sensitization campaigns of the population in the affected area under way, it is hoped that the spread of the epidemic will be minimized", concludes WHO's Division in Geneva dealing with new and reemerging diseases.
The outbreak in Gabon is the second recent outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Africa. In May 1995, the disease struck in Zaire infecting 316 and killing 245 people, a
77% case-fatality rate. There was also one single case of Ebola in Côte d'Ivoire last December. The patient survived.
The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with blood secretions or body fluids from infected person. The symptoms of the disease include the sudden onset of fever, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea and massive bleeding. The incubation period is between 2 and 21 days. No specific treatment or vaccine against the Ebola haemorrhagic fever exist.
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For further information, please contact the office of Health Communications and Public Relations, WHO, Geneva, Tel. (4122) 791.3223/3221/2532/2543, or Fax (4122) 791.48.58. rozovi@who.ch