New Ebola outbreak confirmed in Congo

Health workers walk with a boy suspected of having the Ebola virus at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, eastern Congo, Sept 9, 2018. —AP

KINSHASA, Congo—Africa CDC, the continent’s top public health body, on Friday confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in Congo’s remote Ituri province, with 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths recorded so far.

The deaths and suspected cases have been recorded mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.

“Four deaths have been reported among laboratory-confirmed cases. Suspected cases have also been reported in Bunia, pending confirmation,” the agency said.

Last year, from September to December, 34 died from the outbreak of Ebola in Congo.

The virus, which is often fatal despite recent advances in vaccines and treatment, has caused 15,000 deaths in Africa in the last 50 years.

The deadliest outbreak in DR Congo between 2018 and 2020 killed nearly 2,300 people out of 3,500 infected.

Bodily fluids

In December last year, the head of the National Institute of Public Health declared the outbreak had “effectively ended.”

DR Congo has had 16 Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first identified in 1976, when the vast central African country was known as Zaire.

Human transmission of Ebola happens through bodily fluids. The main symptoms are fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhea.

The virus is contagious only when symptoms appear after an incubation period of two to 21 days.