/ 21 October 2000

SWIFT ACTION LIMITS EBOLA OUTBREAK

SWIFT action to fight the Ebola outbreak in Uganda has resulted in a much lower mortality rate than earlier cases of the deadly virus, and raised hopes of a speedy drop-off in infections, health experts said. The hemorrhagic fever caused by the virus usually kills between 50 and 90% of the people it infects, but the mortality rate in the outbreak centred around the northern Ugandan town of Gulu currently stands at 37%. Of 111 recorded cases, 41 have died. -AFP

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