Seventeen people in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
have died from Ebola, the health ministry said on Tuesday, describing
the fresh outbreak as a "public health emergency with international
impact."
"Twenty-one cases of fever with haemorrhagic
indications and 17 deaths" have been recorded in Equateur province, it
said, citing a notification to the ministry as of May 3.
It
is the DRC's ninth known outbreak of Ebola since 1976, when the deadly
viral disease was first identified in then-Zaire by a Belgian-led team.
In
Geneva, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said lab tests in the DRC
confirmed the presence of Ebola virus in two out of five samples
collected from patients.
"WHO is working closely with
the government of the DRC to rapidly scale up its operations and
mobilise health partners, using the model of a successful response to a
similar... outbreak in 2017," it said in a statement.
Bikoro
It said it had released $1 million (840,000 euros) from an
emergency contingency fund, set up a coordination group and deployed
more than 50 experts to work with the DRC government and health
agencies.
The outbreak occurred in Bikoro, on the shores of Lake Tumba.
All
the cases were reported from a clinic at Ilkoko Iponge, located about
30 kilometres (20 miles) from Bikoro, where treatment capacities are
limited, the WHO said.
A team of experts from the WHO,
Doctors without Borders (DRC) and Equateur province travelled to Bikoro
on Tuesday to beef up coordination and carry out investigations, it
said.
Ebola is one of the world's most notorious diseases, being both highly infectious and extremely lethal.
It
is caused by a virus that has a natural reservoir in the bat, which
does not itself fall ill, but can pass the microbe on to humans who hunt
it for "bushmeat".
The virus is handed on by contact with bodily fluids — touching a sick or dead person is a well-known source of infection.
Following
an incubation period of between two and 21 days, Ebola develops into a
high fever, weakness, intense muscle and joint pain, headaches and a
sore throat.
That is often followed by vomiting and diarrhoea, skin eruptions, kidney and liver failure, and internal and external bleeding.
The
worst-ever Ebola outbreak started in December 2013 in southern Guinea
before spreading to two neighbouring west African countries, Liberia and
Sierra Leone.
That outbreak killed more than 11,300
people out of nearly 29,000 registered cases, according to WHO
estimates, although the real figure is thought to be significantly
higher.
More than 99 per cent of victims were in the
three West African countries, although cases occurred in other parts of
the world, often stirring panic.
No comments :
Post a Comment