A new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo leaves at least 65 dead
The country already suffered an outbreak of this disease at the end of last year
BarcelonaThe Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the African Union’s peak public health agency, has confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 246 suspected cases and 65 reported deaths. So far, four deaths from Ebola have been confirmed by laboratory analysis, the agency reported in a statement on Friday.
The agency indicated that initial investigations suggest it is a strain of the virus different from the Zaire strain, and that it is being sequenced for further characterization. The African CDC has expressed concern about the risk of spread due to the urban context of the area where the outbreak was detected, in Ituri province, in the east of the country, with "intense movement" of the population and mobility related to mining in Mongbwalu. The organization also refers to the insecurity in the affected areas, deficiencies in contact tracing, and proximity to South Sudan and Uganda.
Therefore, the agency has convened an urgent meeting with health authorities from Congo, Uganda, South Sudan, and other global partners such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Unicef, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It has also invited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from the United States, the European Union, China, and Canada, along with several pharmaceutical laboratories, international institutions, and various NGOs.
Ebola virus disease, which is transmitted through direct contact with the blood and bodily fluids of infected people or animals, is serious and often fatal. According to the WHO, it has a mortality rate of between 60% and 80%.
The Democratic Republic of Congo already suffered another Ebola outbreak between September 4 and December 1 of last year, which caused 45 deaths and 64 cases in Kasai province, in the center of the country. This is the seventeenth outbreak of this disease declared in the country since it was first discovered in 1976.
