Suspected Ebola cases top 900 in DR Congo
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND—More than 900 suspected Ebola cases have been identified in the conflict-hit Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the World Health Organization (WHO) chief has said.
“As surveillance efforts have been scaled up in the #DRC #Ebola response, more than 900 suspected cases have been identified so far, including 101 confirmed cases,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post on Sunday that gave no update on the death toll.
Ebola is a deadly viral disease that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. It can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.
The country declared an outbreak on May 15 caused by the Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine or treatments.
In a previous update released on Saturday, the DRC health ministry said 204 deaths had been recorded in three provinces of the vast central African country, from 867 suspected cases.
Ebola has killed more than 15,000 people across Africa in the past half-century.
Growing attacks
Meanwhile, angry young men stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients at the heart of the latest outbreak of the disease in eastern Congo on Sunday evening, forcing the medical staff to scramble to evacuate the patients as gunfire rang out in the area.
It was not immediately known if anyone was hurt in the attack on the Mongbwalu General Hospital but Dr. Richard Lokudu, the hospital’s medical director, told The Associated Press (AP) the attackers demanded that two bodies of their kin be handed over to them.
There was gunfire and the medics were trying to evacuate the patients and the staff, Lokudu said over the phone.
“Mongbwalu General Hospital is on general alert,” he added. He did not have any further details of the unfolding turmoil.
