WHO, June 2, ((Redazione/Adnkronos/GNA) – The WHO has drastically reduced the number of suspected Ebola cases in Central Africa to 116, compared to over 900 previously, with 330 cases now confirmed.
On May 31, the World Health Organization stated that 116 suspected cases of the deadly virus had been registered in the Democratic Republic of Congo, down from 906 at the end of the previous week. Approximately 321 cases have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including 48 deaths, while nine confirmed cases, including one death, have been reported in neighboring Uganda.
Although some suspected cases have been confirmed, many others have been excluded from the data after proving to be suffering from other diseases with similar initial symptoms or unrelated fever, said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier. “Anyone identified through surveillance or presenting to a health facility with symptoms similar to Ebola” is considered a suspected case of the epidemic, pending test results,” he said.
The epidemic was declared on May 15 in the conflict-ridden Ituri province, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Central African country that is home to over 100 million people, and is one of the poorest in the world.
However, it is believed that the virus, which spreads through close contact and bodily fluids and can cause fatal hemorrhagic fever, had been spreading undetected for weeks. Lindmeier told reporters that once suspected Ebola cases were tested, they were “in many cases excluded.” Previous WHO figures also included 223 suspected Ebola deaths, but the new figures no longer include this category. Lindmeier suggested that the number was very uncertain, as it included “people who died long ago” and whose remains, in many cases, could not be exhumed for analysis. According to the WHO, meanwhile, six people confirmed to have contracted Ebola during the outbreak have been registered as recovered.
EU summit draft: monitor and coordinate actions
The European Council “invites the EU Council and the Commission to monitor the situation” of the epidemic caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo “and its evolution and, if necessary, to define and coordinate the relevant operational priorities”. This is reported in the draft conclusions of the European Council of June 18-19, dated yesterday.
The European Council “expresses concern about the spread of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. It welcomes the rapid allocation of funds by the World Health Organization which enables an immediate response, including epidemiological surveillance, contact tracing, and strengthening laboratory capacities.”
“The European Union is ready, as has already happened during previous epidemics, to support the work of the WHO and the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in coordinating and implementing urgent containment and response measures,” it concludes.
GNA