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Outbreak of deadly ebola confirmed in Congo

Infection Control Monitor, September 14, 2007

Lab results confirmed a deadly outbreak in southeastern Congo as Ebola fever, health officials said September 10.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and another lab in Gabon confirmed the disease as a hemorrhagic fever, and specifically as Ebola, Health Minister Makwenge Kaput said on national television. The Congolese government on September 12 declared a quarantine of the area, reported the Associated Press.

More than 160 people have died of the illness in the affected region since late last month and nearly 400 have been infected, said one health official. However, another disease may account for some cases of illness. Some sick patients have responded well to an antibiotic, which would have no impact on a viral disease like Ebola, World Health Organization officials said. They suspect that shigella or typhoid has also broken out in the same area.

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