DRC: WHO Confirms Ebola Spreading In Western Congo With 50 Confirmed Cases

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday announced Ebola is spreading in the western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as 50 Ebola cases have been reported across a large region bordering the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, reported Reuters.

Ring a press briefing, Mike Ryan, WHO’s top emergency expert, said 48 cases have been confirmed in Congo’s Equateur province, with a further three probable cases and a total of 20 deaths, since DRC authorities announced the outbreak on June 1.

“This is still a very active outbreak, and I would say it is still a great concern,” Ryan said.

He said the Ebola affected province includes part of the River Congo, adding that it was a large geographical area where communities were linked and people travelled long distances.

The WHO official cautioned that while the number of Ebola infected people is currently low, it is very important that the concerned authorities do not take their eyes off these other emerging diseases as these can get out of control very easily like what happened in North Kivu and during other previous outbreaks of Ebola.

There was previously a separate outbreak of Ebola in Ituri and North Kivu provinces of eastern DRC that was declared over last month. That Ebola outbreak, the second largest on record that began in August 2018, infected around 3,463 people and killed more than 2,277 people over two years.

The DRC is also facing a measles epidemic that has killed more than 6,000 people, as well as COVID-19, which has infected more than 3,000 and killed 188 in the DRC, according to official figures.

Over 13 million people around the world have been diagnosed with COVID-19, 7.3 million have recovered, and more than 573,000 have died, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University. The US, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Italy have recorded the most number of deaths.