What Is Ebola, How Does It Spread and Why Is DR Congo Outbreak an 'Emergency'?
The outbreak has killed 91 people and sickened about 350, with no vaccine or specific treatment available for the Bundibugyo strain.
- On Sunday, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a "public health emergency of international concern," the second-highest alert level under international health regulations.
- The rare Bundibugyo strain, for which no vaccine exists, is centered in the conflict-ridden Ituri province; initial community beliefs of "mystical illness" delayed early detection by the Congolese health ministry.
- Congolese Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba reported 91 suspected deaths and 336 infections across the DRC and Uganda on Sunday, with women comprising more than 60 percent of those affected.
- Health Minister Kamba arrived in Bunia on Sunday to establish treatment centers, while the WHO and Medecins Sans Frontières mobilized protective equipment from Kenya to support overwhelmed local hospitals.
- Virologist Jean-Jacques Muyembe warned "it's an outbreak that will spread very rapidly" through the densely populated mining region. This marks the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC, where ongoing violence complicates field management.
38 Articles
38 Articles
WHO declares global emergency as DRC Ebola outbreak spreads beyond borders
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Ebola emergency declared in DRC as hantavirus fears ease in SA
If it’s not a hantavirus outbreak, it’s Ebola. While South Africans can breathe a sigh of relief after no new or secondary transmissions of hantavirus were identified following the outbreak on the cruise ship, MV Hondius, which departed from Argentina in early April. No local hantavirus transmission found Infected passengers were evacuated or transited to SA hospitals for emergency care. Department of health spokesperson Foster Mohale said the B…
An American doctor has been infected, and the US has closed its borders to travelers from three countries. The WHO has declared the Ebola outbreak in Congo a public health emergency of international concern. The rare Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines, has already claimed more than 118 lives and was detected in Uganda, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing the Associated Press. Read also: WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Africa a pu…
In response to the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO launched an international health alert.
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