Guinea haemorrhagic fever may have crossed into Sierra Leone

An outbreak of haemorrhagic fever that has killed 29 people in Guinea may have spread across the border into neighbouring Sierra Leone, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) document and a senior Sierra Leone health official. While the exact type of the fever, which is characterised by bleeding, has yet to be identified, a senior official in Guinea said on Friday preliminary tests had narrowed down the possibilities to Ebola or Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever. WHO officials, however, suspect Lassa Fever may be behind the outbreak, cases of which have now also been reported in a border region in Sierra Leone, according to minutes of a March 18 teleconference seen by Reuters. Sierra Leone’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brima Kargbo said authorities were investigating the case of a 14-year-old boy who died in the town of Buedu in the eastern Kailahun District.