Live
Audio Only
Ebola fever causes severe bleeding and can reach a 90 percent mortality rate.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Thursday announced that 74 Ebola virus cases have been recorded in the latest outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
RELATED:
Democratic Republic Of Congo: WHO Reports A New Ebola Outbreak
On June 25, DRC authorities announced the end of the tenth Ebola outbreak, which had been hitting the North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri provinces since August 2018.
In those territories, the WHO registered 3,463 Ebola cases and 2,280 people dead. To support the fight against this disease, the UN health agency has deployed over 70 experts in the DRC.
The WHO Health Emergencies Programme Director Mike Ryan admitted that he is concerned about this new outbreak because it is very active.
When he tested positive for Ebola in western DR Congo, 72-year-old Samwengi fled the treatment centre and went back home. @UNICEF-supported teams convinced him to return to the centre where he was ultimately cured pic.twitter.com/y15l52odJi
— UNICEF en RDC (@UNICEFDRC) August 3, 2020
First discovered in DRC in 1976, Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the blood and body fluids of infected people or animals. Its fever causes severe bleeding and can reach a 90 percent mortality rate.
On Wednesday, DRC authorities in Butembo announced that they will use the same Ebola response plan to fight COVID-19, which has just recorded its first cases.
“Some Ebola achievements that can help us make a good response to the coronavirus...We must make them operational,” the Butembo Health Area Director Paluku Lwanza said.
Newsletter
