Latest Ebola Outbreak In Western Democratic Republic Of Congo Kills 43

The World Health Organization on Friday said the Ebola outbreak in the western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has infected 100 people as of Friday, killing 43 of them, reported Reuters.

The latest outbreak of the virus was declared on June 1, just before Congo declared the end of a previous outbreak in the east that continued for two years.

The outbreak in Equateur Province was identified when a cluster of cases was discovered in the provincial capital Mbandaka. The number of cases has doubled in the last five weeks.

In a statement, the WHO said the latest Ebola outbreak has spread to 11 health zones, remote villages in Equateur province spanning more than 200 miles of dense forest with few roads. Case data shows the pace of the virus’s spread has been relatively consistent.

“With 100 Ebola cases in less than 100 days, the outbreak in Equateur Province is evolving in a concerning way,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. “The virus is spreading across a wide and rugged terrain which requires costly interventions and with COVID-19 draining resources and attention; it is hard to scale-up operations.”

In late June, the DRC government announced end of a genetically distinct Ebola outbreak which killed more than 2,200 people over two years.

The WHO has already committed about $2.3 million to the battle against Ebola, and Congo’s health ministry has said it will need $40 million to control the outbreak.

 Despite effective vaccines and treatments provided for the control of Ebola in DRC that dramatically boosted survival rates, the response was adversely affected in areas controlled by armed groups.

In fact, last week health care workers in Mbandaka went on strike and blocked access to testing laboratories for three days in protest over unpaid salaries and low pay scales. The strike came to an end on Monday when the government agreed to examine their claims.