The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is facing a new episode of haemorrhagic fever linked to Ebola virus. A new outbreak of the disease has been confirmed by the DRC Ministry of Health in the northwest of the country, near the locality of Ikoko Impenge, next to the town of Bikoro.
The first assessment reports 17 victims according to the health authorities. “Twenty-one cases of fever with hemorrhagic signs and 17 deaths”, have been recorded, i.e. a fatality rate of 80%, points out a press release from the Ministry of Health taken up by AFP, which describes the situation as “emergency public health of international concern”.
The World Health Organization is on the alert. It will send epidemiologists and prevention experts to help health authorities on the ground to prevent any spread of the highly contagious disease. In addition to collecting samples from the population and taking care of “suspicious” cases, health professionals will disseminate prevention messages.
Ninth outbreak of Ebola fever
The Ebola virus is transmitted to humans from wild animals (monkeys, bats) and spreads in populations by human-to-human transmission : by direct contact with blood, secretions, organs or biological liquids of infected persons or with surfaces or materials contaminated by this type of liquid, recalls theWHO.
If rehydration and symptomatic treatment improve the survival rate of infected people by the virus, no treatment can eliminate the virus to date, recalls the WHO.
This is the ninth outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in the country. It was in the DRC that the Ebola virus was discovered in 1976. These new cases raise fears of a resurgence of the epidemic in the country.
Between 2013 and 2016 Ebola killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa, mainly in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria.
new epidemic#Ebola in #RDC : WHO (@WHO) mobilized to provide a rapid and coordinated response ►https://t.co/wruXRgAU18pic.twitter.com/3ZO61Kl79g
— UN News (@UNinfo) May 8, 2018
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