Ebola outbreak in Congo: 17 DEAD after new virus outbreak amid fears of MORE cases
EBOLA has claimed the lives of at least 17 people in the northwest Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), bringing the country’s health ministry to describe the epidemic as a “public health emergency with international impact”.
By ALICE SCARSI
Express.co.uk
Wed, May 9, 2018
The latest outbreak of the deadly disease has been recorded in Bikoro, on the shores of Lake Tumba.
All the cases were reported at a clinic at Ilkoko Ipponge, located about 30 kilometres from the city, which according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) is limited in its capabilities to deal with the disease.
The health organisation confirmed following lab tests that two of the five samples collected from disease-stricken patients confirmed the presence of Ebola virus.
The WHO said: “WHO is working closely with the government of the DRC to rapidly scale up its operations and mobilize health partners, using the model of a successful response to a similar outbreak in 2017.”
The organisation added that it had already forked out £738,200 from an emergency contingency fund to deploy and coordinate more than 50 experts to work in the country together with the DRC government and health agencies.
The country’s Health Ministry said: “Twenty-one cases of fever with haemorrhagic indications and 17 deaths.”
This is the ninth known outbreak of the disease in the country since 1976.
The virus, which last year alone killed four people in the country, is notorious for being both highly infectious and extremely lethal.
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