Suspected haemorrhagic fever in Province Orientale

Samples taken from the Isiro area of Province Orientale have been sent to South Africa to test for the presence of haemorrhagic fever, a WHO official told IRIN on Friday. A WHO team was sent from Kampala to Isiro on Thursday for a one-day investigation after one man in the town was reported to have died of suspected haemorrhagic fever on 29 August. The man had recently arrived from Durba, where he was believed to have contracted the disease, the official said. Six other cases of suspected haemorrhagic fever were reported in Durba between 8-22 August, of whom four have died, humanitarian sources told IRIN this week. The laboratory results on the Isiro samples are expected on Monday, the WHO official said. From late 1998 to May, a haemorrhagic fever outbreak identified as Marburg in the Durba and Watsa areas of the province had affected about 90 people, of whom 60 died.