Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo
In November 2001, there was an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Gabon, in an area close to the border with the Republic of the Congo. The virus was confirmed by the Centre International de Recherche Médicale de Franceville in Gabon, a partner institution in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network. WHO was notified in December and an international team from the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network quickly arrived in Gabon to assist the Ministry of Health in controlling the outbreak. During this period, Gabonese patients went to the Republic of the Congo to be treated by traditional healers where they infected others. International staff from the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network also worked with health officials from the Republic of the Congo to establish surveillance and control activities across the border from the Gabon outbreak. The outbreak ended in March 2002.
See the reports in Disease Outbreak News for more details.