New Ebola Outbreak Claims 15 Lives In DR Congo

Three years after Ebola outbreak killed six people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country has again confirmed that the contagious disease has claimed lives of at least 15 people since the end of August in central Kasai Province of the country.
The country’s Health Minister, Samuel Roger Kamba said made this disclosure to newsmen in capital Kinshasa.
According to provisional figures, 28 suspected cases have been recorded in Kasai Province, with the first case reported on August 20 in a 34-year-old pregnant woman who was admitted to hospital.
“It’s the 16th outbreak recorded in our country,” Kamba said.
According to the World Health Organization(WHO), case numbers are likely to increase, which has dispatched experts alongside a Congolese response team to Kasai Province.
The DRC has a stockpile of treatments for this viral haemorrhagic fever as well as 2,000 doses of vaccines that will be moved to Kasai from the capital Kinshasa.
“We’re acting with determination to rapidly halt the spread of the virus and protect communities,” said WHO Regional Director for Africa Mohamed Janabi.
Ebola, first identified in 1976 and thought to have crossed over from bats, is a deadly viral disease spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, causing severe bleeding and organ failure.
The deadliest outbreak in the DRC — whose population numbers more than 100 million — killed nearly 2,300 people between 2018 and 2020.
Health authorities say the Zaire strain — for which there is a vaccine — is the cause of the new outbreak.
“Fortunately we have a vaccine for this Zaire strain but to deploy it we need to ensure the logistics,” Kamba said.
Four times the size of France, the DRC has poor infrastructure, with often limited and poorly maintained lines of communication.