Ebola outbreak in DR Congo is growing

The Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo's northwest is growing, sounding the alarm weeks after the country officially declared an end to a separate Ebola epidemic which claimed over 2,000 lives. /Reuters

The Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo's northwest is growing, sounding the alarm weeks after the country officially declared an end to a separate Ebola epidemic which claimed over 2,000 lives.

There have been 54 confirmed cases since June 1 in Mbandaka, including 22 deaths, according to figures released by the country's health ministry on Friday.

There were four additional suspected cases.

The outbreak is DR Congo's 11th since Ebola was identified in 1976.

On June 25, the vast central African country officially declared an end to an Ebola epidemic that broke out in the east two years ago, which Health Minister Eteni Longondo said was "the longest, most complex and deadliest" in the country's history.

The two epidemics have no common viral strain, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The UN health agency called the latest figures "of great concern", saying that it had identified 56 cases by Thursday.

"It is now surpassing the previous outbreak in this area which was closed off and controlled at a total of 54 cases," said Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO's regional director for Africa, referring to a 2018 Ebola outbreak in Equateur in which 33 people died.

Health authorities have launched a vaccination campaign, as was done in the east where two experimental vaccines were widely deployed and more than 320,000 people received a jab.

"More than 8,000 people have been vaccinated," said Alhassane Toure, a vaccination coordinator.

"All the affected health zones have been covered by the vaccination."

Source(s): AFP