22 May 2004	Saturday	02 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

NAIROBI, May 21: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday reported an outbreak of an ebola-type infection in southern Sudan, saying four people who contracted the virus had died.

The WHO, a UN organization, said the virus had been detected in samples taken in Yambio County of south Sudan's Western Equatoria region and tested by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) in Nairobi.

The "ebola-like infection" had been confirmed in 10 of 15 suspected cases and four of the 10 have died, WHO said in a statement. Ebola itself is the most dangerous of a group of viruses that cause haemorrhagic fever, killing between 50 and 90 percent of those it infects by liquefying their organs, leading them to bleed through the skin, eyes, gums and anus.

The WHO said it was working with health authorities in Yambio County to create a crisis committee to stem further spread of the infection, whose patients started showing symptoms on May 15.

No new cases have been reported in the past three days, WHO said. "Two patients are being cared for in the isolation ward of Yambio hospital and 102 contacts are currently being followed up by the surveillance teams.

The outbreak has prompted officials in neighbouring northern Uganda to activate a stand-by surveillance network. About 170 people died in an ebola outbreak in Uganda in 2000. -AFP