A record-breaking 27 new confirmed Ebola cases were registered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in a single day, reported Reuters.
The new registered Ebola cases have raised last week’s number of cases to 126, the biggest since the current outbreak was declared last August, the DRC’s health ministry said. The previous record was 110 confirmed cases a couple of weeks ago.
The current Ebola outbreak, which began nine months ago, is the second worst in the DRC’s history, with 957 feared dead to date. The 2013-16 West African epidemic killed more than 11,000 people.
According to numbers revealed by the Ministry of Health DRC, a total of 1,466 confirmed and probable Ebola cases have been registered in the country since August.
DRC’s eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri have been worst hit by the Ebola outbreak, where at least 891 people have died and an additional 500 have been infected to date.
The outbreak in DRC’s eastern regions is now spreading at its fastest rate due to repeated military attacks and mistrust of doctors. The armed militiamen have repeatedly attacked health workers who are trying to fight the deadly virus believing that Ebola is a conspiracy against them.
Many believe that Ebola is a conspiracy by the government or foreign countries. They even a senior epidemiologist for the World Health Organization in Butembo, in the east of the DRC. The doctors have threatened to strike if health workers continue to be attacked in the African nation.
