WHO says 70 die from hemorrhagic illness in DRC; denies outbreak is Ebola

[another_liberal]

Source: Al Jazeera America

At least 70 people have died in northern Democratic Republic of Congo from an outbreak of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, denying that the illness was Ebola. A WHO report dated Thursday and seen by Reuters said that 592 people had contracted the disease, of whom 70 died. Five health care workers, including one doctor, are among the dead. "This is not Ebola," a WHO spokesman said in an email to Reuters on Thursday.

A local priest who asked not to be named said that the illness had affected several villages and estimated that the death toll was over 100 people. Kinshasa sent its health minister, Felix Kabange Numbi, and a team of experts on Wednesday to the region after reports of several deaths.

The outbreak began in the remote jungle province of Equateur where the first case of Ebola was reported in 1976, prompting speculation that it was the same illness that has killed more than 1,350 people in West Africa and is continuing to spread. Symptoms of the two diseases are similar; they include vomiting, diarrhea and internal bleeding. But the fatality rate for this outbreak of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis is much lower than the West Africa Ebola outbreak, at around 12 percent versus close to 60 percent.

The WHO, which sent representatives to the area on Wednesday together with the Congolese team of experts, said four samples would be flown from the town of Boende on Friday to the capital Kinshasa for further testing. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders said it had also sent a team to Equateur province to assess the situation. The group said it was too early to confirm what the disease was.


Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/8/21/congo-who-disease.html

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Are there two different epidemics happening at one time, or is this a mutation (thankfully much less lethal) of the original disease? The current strain of Ebola active in West Africa is also somewhat less lethal than earlier Ebola outbreaks had been. Are we seeing viral evolution, adaptation to a new host? At any rate, this new threat couldn't have chosen a worse time to emerge.

[Earth_First]

1. So WHO says it's not ebola. MSF says it's too early to confirm...

I'm siding with MSF with a tendency to believe the outbreak has severely spread.

[littlemissmartypants]

2. Imagine ..

Being stricken with both of these viri at the same time. Horrific suffering. I feel for these poor souls and their families.

~Lmsp

[magical thyme]

5. this isn't necessarily a virus

but yeah, if you got both at once I think your survival chances would be zero.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. hemorrhagic gastroenteritis"is very rare in humans"

Hemorrhagic gastroenteritis is a disease characterized by bleeding and inflammation in both the stomach and intestinal system.
It is very rare in humans, and is more often found in animals, particularly dogs, sheep and cattle.
In humans, hemorrhagic gastroenteritis is not a primary condition, but rather a symptom or complication of some other underlying condition.
Hemorrhagic gastroenteritis should always be considered a medical emergency.

Causes
In adult humans, hemorrhagic gastroenteritis is most often caused by poisoning, particularly heavy metal toxicity.
Rarely, toxicity occurs in patients taking the colchicine for gout.
Any poison or prescription drug that blocks cellular reproduction in some way has the potential to cause hemorhagic gastroenteritis

.http://www.infobarrel.com/Hemorrhagic_Gastroenteritis


HGE is not contagious from touching or bodily fluids.
http://veterinary.answers.com/dogs/hemorrhagic-gastroenteritis-deadly-disease-in-dogs

So this rare in humans, caused by heavy metal toxicity, rarely fatal in humans, condition caused 70 people to die?

Uhhhh.....sounds too weird to me.

[magical thyme]

4. I doubt we are seeing viral evolution

"The current strain of Ebola active in West Africa is also somewhat less lethal than earlier Ebola outbreaks had been."

That may be because many cases are unaccounted for. Those who have been hidden away and subsequently died and either buried by their families or dumped in the streets were not counted. WHO and MSF made it clear last week that the official numbers vastly understate the magnitude.

The Democratic Republic of Congo doesn't share a border with any of the affected countries in the current outbreak. It could be a separate outbreak of Ebola, since it is one of the first countries where the disease was first identified. Or it could be a totally different disease; there are a number of hemorrhagic diseases. Or something new on the scene.

[jeff47]

6. There's LOTS of hemorrhagic fevers.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/vhf.htm

Ebola's the famous one at the moment. But there's lots of others. And that's just viruses, not other sources.

[WCLinolVir]

7. Well Ebola was unheard of at some point in history, and this could be a related

virus with limited action. Limited by what I don't know. Unable to replicate on the scale of Ebola or more susceptible to stomach acid? And people have different levels of stomach acid, or some produce less than most. Elderly, etc..