There’s been a new discovery of an Ebola case in Congo’s Équateur province, that last saw an outbreak of the highly deadly virus in 2018, killing more than 30 people there.
Earlier on Monday (1st June), the province’s governor, Bobo Boloko Bolumbu, addressed the issue on national radio to announce that four out of the five likely cases had already resulted in death, following reports from the Washington Post.
However, Tedros Adhanbom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization’s director-general, later clarified that Congo’s Health Ministry had actually identified a total of six cases.
A new #Ebola outbreak detected in western #DRC, near Mbandaka, Équateur province. @MinSanteRDC has identified 6 cases, of which 4 people have died. The country is also in final phase of battling Ebola in eastern DRC, #COVID19 & the world’s largest measles outbreak.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) June 1, 2020
Ebola is a deadly virus which Congo has struggled against for nearly two years as a different Ebola outbreak struck the northeastern provinces, taking the lives of 2,272 unfortunate victims. It is transmitted through contact with the infected’s bodily fluids and can result in vomiting, extensive internal bleeding-even hemorrhagic fever in severe cases.
In April, the country’s worst outbreak was days away from being declared over when several new cases were found. The region is also suffering under the world’s largest ongoing outbreak of measles.
The Ebola pandemic was at its worst when it took place across three countries in West Africa between the period of late 2013 and early 2016. Nearly 30,000 people were infected and 11,000 victims were numbered as fatalities.
While experimental vaccines prove to be effective in preventing the spread of Ebola, no cure has been found. The virus has different strains and mortality rates could range anywhere between 25-90%. Covid-19 and Ebola are unrelated but more than 3,000 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed across Congo.
Hopefully, those who are suffering receive the aid they need as soon as possible. What do you guys think of this?
Also read: Kawasaki-like Disease Detected in Children Testing Positive For Covid-19 Suggesting A Possible Link
