Haemorrhagic fever test results pending

Results of laboratory tests to check for the presence of haemorrhagic fever viruses in Isiro, Province Orientale, are expected later this week or early next week, a WHO official told IRIN on Tuesday. Samples collected from Isiro were sent to South Africa for testing last week after one man in the town died of suspected haemorrhagic fever on 29 August. Humanitarian sources have said six other suspected cases with four deaths were reported in nearby Durba during August. From late 1998 to May, a haemorrhagic fever outbreak in the same area, apparently caused by the Marburg virus, affected about 90 people. Meanwhile, humanitarian sources have said one additional suspected case was reported between 12-18 July some 40 km from Durba.