World Health Organization Shuts Sierra Leone Lab After Worker Contracts Ebola

The World Health Organization (WHO) has shut down its Ebola testing laboratory in Sierra Leone.

A worker had contracted the virus and hence, the facility was shutdown, WHO announced Tuesday, reports  Reuters.

Workers were pulled out of the Ebola testing laboratory at Kailahun, after an epidemiologist from Senegal  tested positive for the disease.  He is being treated at a government hospital in Kenema.

"It's a temporary measure to take care of the welfare of our remaining workers," WHO spokesperson Christy Feig said. "After our assessment, they will return."

She, however, did not mention the duration of the shutdown adding that the Senegalese worker will be sent away from Sierra Leone soon.

However, the Ebola testing laboratory at Kenema would function as usual.

Nearly 1,427 people have died from the disease so far and 2, 615 people infected, reports Reuters.

The highly contagious disease has hit the countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria in West Africa.

To contain the epidemic, the WHO has engaged nearly 400 of its employees. It is also collaborating with other aid agencies to contain the disease.

Meanwhile, authorities have confirmed the outbreak of the disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday.

According to the U.N. mission in Congo, 13 people, including 5 health workers have already died from the disease.  

A large number of suspected cases were reported from the town of Djera, a town in the remote northwestern jungle province of Equateur.

Authorities in Congo are planning to quarantine the region around Djera, reports Reuters.

Ebola was first identified in 1976 in Equateur, near the Ebola river in Congo.