New Ebola Outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo Kills 17, Said to Have ‘International Impact’

By The Blaze. . .Two out of five samples collected from patients were confirmed to have tested positive for Ebola, which the DRC reported to the World Health Organization. With a fatality rate of fifty percent, WHO is mobilizing to act quickly to address the outbreak of the virus. The organization released $1 million from a Contingency Fund for Emergencies in order to help stop the spread.

WHO deputy director-general for emergency preparedness and response, Dr. Peter Salama, said, “Our top priority is to get to Bikoro [a neighboring province] to work alongside the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and partners to reduce the loss of life and suffering related to this new Ebola virus disease outbreak.

“Working with partners and responding early and in a coordinated way will be vital to containing this deadly disease.” Doctors Without Borders is one of the organizations who will assist the WHO, and the response will be modelled after the methods used in a 2017 Ebola outbreak that occurred in another DRC province.

Since 1976, this is the ninth outbreak of Ebola in Congo. The virus is highly contagious and can cause organ failure as well as internal and external bleeding.

The WHO Regional Director for African, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said, “We know that addressing this outbreak will require a comprehensive and coordinated response. WHO will work closely with health authorities and partners to support the national response. We will gather more samples, conduct contact tracing, engage the communities with messages on prevention and control, and put in place methods for improving data collection and sharing.” (Read more from “New Ebola Outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo Kills 17, Said to Have ‘International Impact’” HERE)

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New Outbreak of Ebola Kills 17 in Northwest Dr Congo

By AFP. Seventeen people in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have died from Ebola, the health ministry said on Tuesday, describing the fresh outbreak as a “public health emergency with international impact.”

“Twenty-one cases of fever with haemorrhagic indications and 17 deaths” have been recorded in Equateur province, it said, citing a notification to the ministry as of May 3.

It is the DRC’s ninth known outbreak of Ebola since 1976, when the deady viral disease was first identified in then-Zaire by a Belgian-led team.

In Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) said lab tests in the DRC confirmed the presence of Ebola virus in two out of five samples collected from patients.

“WHO is working closely with the government of the DRC to rapidly scale up its operations and mobilize health partners, using the model of a successful response to a similar… outbreak in 2017,” it said in a statement. (Read more from “New Outbreak of Ebola Kills 17 in Northwest Dr Congo” HERE)

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