Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever Outbreak Continues in South Sudan

THE SUDAN -- As of July 6, 2004, the health authorities in Yambio County in South Sudan and the team assisting them in the outbreak have reassessed the number of cases of Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), in view of additional laboratory results from the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States.

As a result of the reclassification, 17 cases and seven deaths of EHF have now been reported. Thirteen of the cases are laboratory-confirmed and four are epidemiologically linked.

The most recent death reported occurred on June 26, 2004 in the Yambio hospital isolation ward, and no further cases have been reported since then. Contact follow-up in Yambio County is no longer being carried out as the last case was reported and isolated on June 14, 2004.

Surveillance and social mobilization activities are continuing.

Source: WHO