Mysterious Fever in Africa Kills 29 Since February, Puzzles Doctors

Since February 9, a total of 49 cases of haemorrhagic fever have been documented in the Guinea region of Africa, and now officials from the World Health Organization are reporting that it has spread across the border into Sierra Leone.

The West African Nation of Guinea is still investigating the source of this deadly fever, which has claimed the lives of 29 people. This ailment known as a "viral hemorrhagic fever," doctors have been puzzled over its origin in the region. It is a severe multisystem syndrome in which the overall vascular system is damaged and the body's ability to regulate itself is impaired, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sakoba Keita is a doctor in Guinea's Health Ministry who heads the prevention of epidemics department. He's been at the forefront of the haemorrhagic fever outbreak and is still looking for answers. Preliminary tests have revealed Ebola and Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever as the possible culprits, but they're still not sure.

"The investigation team is going from village to village to figure out what was the source of this. That's why, for the moment, we cannot rule out Lassa fever, Ebola or Leptospirose, or the other sicknesses that are haemorrhagic fevers," he said in this Al Jazeera news article.

Reuters just reported that WHO officials believe the viral fever has spread to nearby Sierra Leone as well. They acknowledged that Lassa Fever may have contributed to the outbreak because cases have been recorded at the border of Sierra Leone. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brima Kargbo of Sierra Leone told reporters they are further investigating a case of a 14-year-old boy that fell victim to the fever.

Officials sent a medical team to Guinea, where the boy had attended a funeral of someone who also fell victim to the unknown haemorrhagic fever. The Lassa Fever, which originated in West Africa, is contracted through contact with food or household items that are contaminated with rodent feces. The "multimammate rat" is the host of the lethal disease and they breed in large numbers in savannas and forests in West Africa.

To read more about the haemorrhagic fever outbreak, visit this Reuters news article as well as this Al Jazeera article.