Gabon Ebola outbreak 'at peak'

Most of the suspected victims were related to one of the confirmed cases

GENEVA, Switzerland -- The Ebola outbreak in west Africa that has killed 15 people is believed to have peaked, the World Health Organisation says.

Health teams are monitoring more than 200 people exposed to the disease and two people are being treated in hospital isolation wards.

WHO spokesman Ian Simpson said 27 cases have been reported in Gabon and neighbouring Congo and 25 of them have been confirmed.

The virus has killed 11 people in small villages in a forested region around Mekambo in northern Gabon and four victims in Congo.

Simpson said: "We believe the outbreak is at its peak, that we have identified all contacts of people who have been infected and any signs of sickness are being investigated.

"People are being told that if they develop fever or headache to seek medical attention. If (Ebola) is identified quickly and they are supplied with intravenous fluids and any secondary infections are treated, they can survive."

RESOURCES Trail of the Ebola virus

International health teams, including seven from WHO, are tracing and monitoring 227 people who may have had contact with the blood or other body fluids of a victim.

Ebola is one of the most deadly viral diseases known to humankind, causing death in 50 to 90 percent of those who become infected.

It is passed through contact with bodily fluids, such as mucus, saliva and blood, but is not airborne.

There is no vaccine or known cure for Ebola, whose victims bleed to death within days after early symptoms similar to flu.