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Ebola lockdown workers find dozens of cases
(CNN) -- One hundred thirty new cases of Ebola were identified during a three-day lockdown in Sierra Leone, Stephen Gaojia, the country's head of emergency operations, said Monday.
Officials are awaiting tests on another 39 potential cases, he said. During the lockdown from Friday through Sunday, no one was allowed to leave home.
More than 75% of the targeted 1.5 million households were contacted, according to the Health Ministry.
The deadliest Ebola outbreak in history has killed at least 2,600 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone -- the countries most affected by the virus -- since the first case was documented in December.
The virus is spread through contact with bodily fluids, and early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat.
The virus is named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), where one of the first outbreaks occurred in 1976.
Credit: CNN.com
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