The deaths occurred among both males and females and involved primarily infants and the elderly. Cases were treated by the team with chloramphenicol, which resulted in a significant improvement, suggesting that severely ill patients were suffering from secondary bacterial infections. There were no deaths among those treated. The disease is flu-like and is characterised by abrupt onset of fever, headaches and myalgia, followed by chest pain and cough. Living and sanitary conditions are crowded, and the water supply is unprotected.
Nutrition is of poor quality.
There are no health services in this very remote area, which has not been accessed by routine immunisation teams. Preliminary conclusions of the WHO team in the field is that the outbreak now declining was an influenza-like illness which has affected a large proportion of the population. WHO and its local partners are now helping local authorities to organise follow-up treatment and arranging for additional medical supplies to the area. Clinical specimens collected by the field team will be analysed shortly.