Kinshasa, May 27, (dpa/GNA) – The number of cases linked to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, continues to rise, with 1,077 suspected cases reported since the outbreak began, including 246 deaths, the Congolese government said on Wednesday.
It reported that 121 infections had been confirmed in the laboratory, including 17 fatal cases. The World Health Organization believes the actual figure is significantly higher, as the outbreak in Ituri province, on the border with Uganda and South Sudan, went unnoticed for weeks, and not all cases are being reported.
In neighbouring Uganda, seven further confirmed cases linked to the outbreak in eastern Congo have been reported so far. The country does not publish figures on suspected cases. The Ugandan authorities have temporarily closed the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Exceptions apply only to professional Ebola response teams, humanitarian missions and food and goods deliveries, according to the Ministry of Health.
All returnees from the Congo must self-isolate for 21, days under the supervision of local health authorities.
Ebola is a contagious and life-threatening infectious disease. The virus is transmitted through physical contact and contact with bodily fluids.
In 2014 and 2015, more than 11,000 people died during an Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
During the second andworst outbreak, which lasted from 2018 to 2020 in the provinces of eastern Congo that are currently affected, around 2,300 people died.
The outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus, for which there is neither a vaccine nor a specific treatment, making the situation particularly difficult.
GNA