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Journalism of Courage
Deadly haemorrhagic Ebola virus has resurfaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the recent outbreak killing at least 160 people, the United Nations health agency said on Wednesday.
Laboratory analysis conducted in Gabon and the United States on samples taken from cases in the outbreak have confirmed the presence of the Ebola virus, which causes death in 50 to 90 per cent of the cases, World Health Organisation (WHO) reported.
The agency has already rushed medical supplies to the region in an effort to contain the disease.
WHO said some of the samples also show the presence of a type of dysentery, which is complicating the treatment of victims, who are concentrated in the Mweka and Lwebo areas of DRC’s Kasai Occidental province.
So far there have been 372 confirmed cases and 166 deaths, according to WHO.
However, Radio Okapi, which is part-operated by the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUC) today reported that there have been 168 deaths.
DRC health ministry officials are leading the response to the outbreak, but WHO said it was providing staff, supplies and equipment to the areas affected besides mobilising a team of national and international experts to implement strategies to limit the size of the outbreak.
The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons or animals and it has an incubation period of two to 21 days.
