Description of the situation
28 May 1996
Disease Outbreak Reported
Ten additional suspected cases and one death have been reported in Kenema. Barrier nursing has been introduced in the Nongowa Clinic in Kenema where six of the 10 cases now are receiving ribavirin therapy. A joint work plan has been developed and teams assembled by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, WHO and the Lassa Fever Project to bring the outbreak under control. The WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Special Pathogens at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, has confirmed the diagnosis of Lassa fever in nine of 12 patients from whom 20 specimens were obtained last week.