The World Health Organization (WHO) sent twelve tons of emergency medical supplies to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to help the country respond to the new Ebola outbreak declared last Thursday, which has already caused at least fifteen deaths, the organization confirmed.

RELATED: Humanitarian Crisis Deepens in Eastern DRC as OCHA Launches “Every Dollar Counts” Campaign

A late Sunday update from the WHO’s Africa office on social platform X revealed that a shipment dispatched from their Nairobi response center contains protective gear sufficient for at least 120 frontline healthcare workers for one month, along with patient isolation materials and water hygiene and sanitation supplies.

Last Thursday, the Congolese government announced the sixteenth Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976, marking the first occurrence in the central Kasai province since 2008.

Recent figures from the DRC Ministry of Public Health report a minimum of 32 confirmed cases and 15 fatalities. Laboratory tests confirm these infections are of the Zaire strain, against which a vaccine is currently being administered to medical staff.

Ebola is a deadly hemorrhagic fever spread through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of infected humans and animals. According to the WHO, it has a fatality rate between 60 and 80 percent.

From 2014 to 2016, West Africa experienced the deadliest Ebola epidemic on record, claiming roughly 11,300 lives—predominantly in Guinea-Conakry, Liberia, and Sierra Leone—though the WHO estimates the true toll may have been higher.

IN THIS ARTICLE