Description of the situation
As of 21 March 2003 the Ministry of Health, Mauritania has reported a total of 35 cases (18 laboratory confirmed), including 6 deaths of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF)(see previous report). Laboratory confirmation was made by the WHO Collaborating Centre at the Institut Pasteur Dakar, Senegal. Physicians are treating 5 patients in the isolation ward of the National Hospital in Nouakchott. Two hundred and ninety-five contacts are being followed-up.
The Ministry of Health, the Institut Pasteur in Dakar and WHO teams are carrying out control activities and surveillance.
WHO has sent a new set of protective equipment for case management and hygiene to the country.