DRCo exceeds 8,000 Ebola cases and approaches 4,000 deaths

A Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo) announced a new episode of Ebola on May 15, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no known treatment or vaccine, and this nation, neighbor of Angola, has had difficulty in containing it.

The most recent data from the Ministry of Health of DRCongo, released on Sunday, show that 8,067 cases were confirmed, with 3,901 deaths on 26 September in 63 health zones in seven of the 26 provinces of the country, with a mortality rate of 48.4%.

In addition, according to the same source, at least 2,070 people recovered from the disease.

“ The persistently high gross mortality ratio, and in particular the continued rate of deaths in communities, shows the severity of the disease and the persistent challenges in the timely detection of cases and access to early and adequate patient care,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest report.

This means that a large percentage of infected people were dying, without counting factors such as delays in seeking help or hidden cases.

Last week, WHO stated that DRCongo was running out of health professionals to contain the disease. Health professionals have been complaining about delays or lack of payments, which triggered several strikes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of Africa (Africa CDC), 50 health professionals have died since the outbreak.

Some areas have been showing signs of improvement, with fewer confirmed cases in recent weeks, including in the province of Ituri and Haut-Uele, but authorities claim that the disease is spreading further elsewhere, extending its geographical scope.

Containment efforts have been hampered by insecurity, population movements, a strike by health professionals and intense skeptical population movements in the face of the disease.

The first doses of the Ervebo vaccine – the efficacy of which is proven against the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus – have been administered in recent weeks in DRCongo to volunteers among the front line personnel in a clinical trial.

Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with body fluids from infected people or animals and causes severe haemorrhagic fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and internal bleeding.