S-2 slide 1 Disease Alert September 1999

S-2 slide 2 Disease Alert Two days ago, a bus with 65 passengers halted near a small village 80 kilometers west of Sofia –Two of the passengers had become suddenly ill –Within hours one was dead and the other is in critical condition The bus was traveling from Istanbul to Frankfurt –Most passengers are Turks and Germans –The two stricken passengers are Eritreans

S-2 slide 3 Disease Alert — cont’d Doctors reported based on initial medical examinations and a preliminary autopsy: –Victims suffered from a “tropical disease” with symptoms not common to Europe A check with the medical school in Sofia revealed press accounts of an Ebola outbreak in the last two weeks in Eritrea

S-2 slide 4 Disease Alert — cont’d Police report: –The Eritreans were travelling on a transit visa –They entered Bulgaria by bus a week ago –They spent three or four days at a small apartment in Sofia frequented by illegal African immigrants Police raided the apartment yesterday and found three illegal immigrants –Police were told that at least 25 or 30 Africans have stayed in the apartment in the past week

S-2 slide 5 Disease Alert — cont’d World health officials advise that if the illness involved is Ebola it is highly contagious and most often fatal The news media are aware of these events –A television station broadcast an alarmist news account last evening –This morning, newspapers further inflamed the public »There are demands for quarantining all Africans and a temporary ban on travelers from Africa The second Eritrean has just died