The Democratic Republic of the Congo declared the resurgence of the Ebola outbreak after identifying a case related to the 2018-2020 outbreak in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, the largest and longest that the country has experienced, reports the World Health Organization. Health (WHO). WHO).
“Resurgences of Ebola cases are occurring more frequently in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is worrying,” said Matshidiso Moeti, regional director for Africa at the World Health Organization (WHO/Africa). The last outbreak was controlled in December 2021, with 11 cases (eight confirmed and three probable) and six deaths.
The case now identified is that of a 46-year-old woman who died on August 15. The woman was admitted to a referral hospital in Beni, a city in North Kivu, with other ailments, but later she developed symptoms consistent with Ebola virus disease.
Two teams from the National Institute for Biomedical Research of the Democratic Republic of the Congo confirmed that it was the Ebola virus and that the samples collected would be related to those of the viruses that circulated during the 2018-2020 outbreak. This outbreak, which began on August 1, 2018 and ended on June 25, 2020, had 3,463 cases and caused 2,280 deaths.
The WHO field team and health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have identified 160 contacts of the woman, who are being monitored to see if they develop symptoms consistent with the disease.
Source: Observadora
