Nine people have died in Benin from Lassa fever, a viral disease common in West Africa with symptoms similar to Ebola, AP quoted the country's health minister as saying. So far no Ebola cases have been confirmed in Benin, Health Minister Dorothee Kinde Gazard told reporters late Tuesday. Authorities will double-check those results with more tests, said Youssouf Gamatie, the representative for the World Health Organization in the country. The Lassa fever deaths happened in Tanguieta, 370 miles (600 kilometers) north of the capital, said Gazard. In West Africa, there are about 100,000 to 300,000 cases of Lassa fever each year and about 5,000 deaths.
