Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have announced an Ebola outbreak after a case was confirmed in Mbandaka, a city in the northwestern province of the Equator. This is the third outbreak that has spread in that province since 2018: this was reported by a press release published on the World Health Organization (WHO) website.
There is only one confirmed case so far: he is a 31-year-old man who started showing symptoms on April 5 and, after more than a week of home care, went to a local health facility. On April 21, the patient was admitted to an Ebola treatment center in intensive care, but died that same day. "Time is not on our side," said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa. "The disease has had a two-week head start and we are now catching up. The good news is that health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have more experience than anyone in the world in quickly controlling Ebola outbreaks."
Congo-DRC (the one with Kinshasa as its capital) "is experiencing the 14th Ebola epidemic since 1976", the sixth only since 2018, WHO recalls announcing that a cycle of vaccinations will begin in the coming days.
Ebola is a serious, often fatal disease affecting humans and other primates.
Case mortality rates have fluctuated from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks but effective treatment is now available, the note still recalls: if patients receive early treatment, as well as supportive care, their chances of survival " significantly improve ".
(Unioneonline / vl)
