Panguma is a village in eastern

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, with a population of 7965. The village had previously been the capital of Mende people, Mende

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Nyagua Nyagua was a Mende chief from Sierra Leone. Early life and career Nyagua was born in the early 1800 in Kenema in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Nyagua ruled a great realm, covering much of the territory between modern Kenema and Sefad ...

during the 19th century. The community includes a Catholic hospital, partially supported by missionary work and charity. In 1972, a

nosocomial A hospital-acquired infection, also known as a nosocomial infection (from the Greek , meaning "hospital"), is an infection that is acquired in a hospital or other health care facility. To emphasize both hospital and nonhospital settings, it is ...

outbreak of

Lassa Fever Lassa fever, also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. Many of those infected by the virus do not develop symptoms. When symptoms occur they typically include fever, weakness, h ...

in the Panguma Catholic Hospital attracted attention in the United States. In response, in 1976, the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

(CDC) established research programs in Segbwema, Kenema, and Panguma to study the disease. The village was attacked on March 12, 1994, as part of the

Sierra Leone Civil War The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberia, Liberian dictato ...

, killing many of the missionaries working at the hospital. A nearby land concession positively led to diamond retrieval in 2006. Elavation_map_of_Panguma

References

Works cited

* * {{coord, 8.024, -11.758, type:city_region:SL, display=title Villages in Sierra Leone