DR Congo declares 17th Ebola outbreak with '246 reported cases, 80 recorded deaths'
The Democratic Republic of Congo has officially declared its 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in the country in 1976, after hundreds of cases and dozens of deaths were reported in the eastern province of Ituri.
Speaking in Kinshasa on Friday, Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya Katembwe said authorities had recorded 246 cases and 80 deaths linked to the outbreak.
He said investigations carried out in the Mongwalu, Rwampara and Bunia health zones confirmed the presence of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus.
“Sequencing confirmed the Bundibugyo strain,” Muyaya said, adding that additional samples had been sent to the National Institute of Biomedical Research in Kinshasa for further analysis.
The government said emergency response measures had already been launched, including contact tracing, awareness campaigns targeting community and religious leaders, and infection prevention efforts in health facilities.
Muyaya said authorities were also working to counter rumours and misinformation surrounding the outbreak.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the virus could spread locally and across borders because of movement between eastern Congo and neighbouring countries, Viory reports.
The agency said the risk was heightened by ongoing violence and displacement in eastern DRC, where decades of conflict have weakened health infrastructure and forced large numbers of people from their homes.
Uganda on Friday also reported an Ebola case after a traveller arriving from the DRC died a day earlier.
The latest outbreak comes just months after the DRC declared its 16th Ebola outbreak over in December. That outbreak infected at least 64 people and killed 45, while more than 47,000 people were vaccinated during the response.
The country’s deadliest Ebola outbreak occurred between 2018 and 2020, when nearly 2,300 people died.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
