Death toll in DRC Ebola outbreak reaches 97, vaccinations continue
The epidemic is the second to hit the country in less than a year.
MELANIE SCHMITZ
ThinkProgress.org
SEP 20, 2018
At least 97 people have died as a result of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the World Health Organization’s most recent figures.
This is the second large-scale Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic the country has faced in less than a year.
The outbreak, first reported in early August, is centered in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces, and appears to be unrelated to the earlier Equateur province outbreak, some 1,500 miles away, which killed at least 33 people earlier this year.
So far, authorities in DRC have reported a total of 142 confirmed and probable EVD cases, including the 97 deaths, 66 of which were confirmed. Additionally, at least 19 health workers have been infected, three of whom were among the deceased.
Of those infected, an estimated 56 percent are female patients, with most between the ages of 25-34 years old. Among men, the most affected age group were those 35-44 years old.
According to reports, 38 patients have been treated and released from various Ebola treatment centers across the region.
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