ISTANBUL

A suspected outbreak of viral hemorrhagic fever in southern Ethiopia has killed six people, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to send a team of experts and emergency supplies to help investigate and contain the outbreak.

Six people, including a doctor and a nurse, have died in the suspected outbreak in Jinka town, South Omo Zone, local news outlet Addis Insight reported on Thursday.

Selamu Tadesse, medical director of Jinka General Hospital, said the two health workers who died had been treating patients with similar symptoms, highlighting the risk of transmission through close patient contact.

The WHO team of 11 experts will help bolster surveillance, testing, infection control, and clinical care efforts in response to the suspected outbreak, a WHO statement said on Thursday.

Ethiopian health authorities are investigating and scaling up their response after suspected cases in the South Ethiopia Region, with laboratory testing underway at the Ethiopia Public Health Institute to determine the cause, it said.

The WHO is providing essential supplies, including personal protective equipment, infection-prevention materials, a deployable isolation tent, and additional technical support, and has released $300,000 from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to aid the East African nation’s response.

Viral hemorrhagic fevers, which include Marburg, Ebola, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and Lassa fever, cause symptoms such as fever, fatigue, dizziness, muscle aches, weakness, and exhaustion.