Description of the situation
14 May 1999
Disease Outbreak Reported
WHO has investigated recent reports of suspected viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) in soldiers returning to Zimbabwe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Three suspected cases have been admitted to two hospitals. The soldiers became ill in the southern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are reported to have had fever with chills, diarrhoea and headache. They had not been in or near the Marburg virus outbreak area of Watsa. In addition, there is no evidence that the soldiers had haemorrhagic features that would be consistent with VHF.
Blood samples from the three soldiers were sent to the National Institute for Virology (South Africa) and have been found negative for Marburg and Ebola in a range of tests.