Guinea haemorrhagic fever may have crossed into S. Leone

A mysterious disease that has killed 29 people in Guinea may have spread into neighbouring Sierra Leone, WHO and sierra Leonean authorities have said.

Guinea recorded the first case of the hemorrhagic fever on 9 February.

49 cases of the infection have since been registered in three southeastern towns and the capital Conakry.

While the exact type of the fever, which is characterised by bleeding, has yet to be identified, a senior official in Guinea said on Friday preliminary tests had narrowed down the possibilities to Ebola or Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever.

Six of the 12 samples sent for analysis tested positive for Ebola, Dr. Sakoba Keita, who heads the epidemics prevention division at Guinea's health ministry, told Reuters news agency.

World Health Organisation officials, however, suspect Lassa Fever may be behind the outbreak, cases of which have now also been reported in a border region in Sierra Leone, according to minutes of a March 18 teleconference seen by Reuters.

Sierra Leone's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brima Kargbo said authorities were investigating the case of a 14-year-old boy who died in the town of Buedu in the eastern Kailahun District.

The boy had travelled to Guinea to attend the funeral of one of the outbreak's earlier victims.

Kargbo said a medical team had been sent to Buedu to test those who came into contact with the boy before his death.

International medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) announced on Saturday it was reinforcing its team in Guinea. It is also flying in 33 tonnes of medicines and equipment and is setting up isolation units in three towns.

"These structures are essential to prevent the spread of the disease, which is highly contagious," Dr. Esther Sterk, MSF's Tropical Medicine Adviser, said in a statement. "Specialised staff are providing care to patients showing signs of infection"

Ebola and Marburg are lethal diseases caused by similar viruses that are among the most virulent pathogens known to infect humans, the WHO says on its website.

Humans contract Lassa Fever, which is endemic in West Africa, from contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent faeces. The disease can then be transmitted from person to person.