Five people have died in the first cases of Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
Ebola, a deadly hemorrhagic fever virus with a fatality rate of up to 90 percent, has already killed more than 100 people in its recent West Africa outbreak. Cases have been reported in Guinea, Liberia, and Mali.
The WHO said that it had received "preliminary information" about one case confirmed in a laboratory in Kenema, Sierra Leone, and four other "community deaths." These were reported from Koidu, near the border with Guéckédou, Guinea, a disease hotspot.
On 25 May 2014, WHO was notified of a lab-confirmed #Ebola case and four suspected deaths from #Koindu, #SierraLeone— WHO (@WHO) May 26, 2014
In the statement, the WHO said it has deployed six experts "in the areas of coordination, epidemiology, social mobilization, case management/infection prevention and control, data management and logistics" to the area.
Despite these cases, the organization doesn't recommend "any travel or trade restrictions" be applied to Sierra Leone.
Here's the approximate location where the five deaths have been reported in Sierra Leon.
