"Ebola" Claims More Than 200 Lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

SadaNews - The Ebola virus has claimed the lives of more than 200 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, about a month after its outbreak, according to a health agency affiliated with the African Union on Thursday evening.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reported that 202 people have died from the virus out of 875 confirmed cases, with a fatality rate of 23%.

Wissam Mankoula, an official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated, "What concerns us is the tracking of contacts."

He added, "Due to security challenges and the difficulty of our response teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and other partners reaching some areas (...) we still observe a weakness in contact tracing efforts."

This week, the Red Cross warned that the outbreak of the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, declared on May 15, has not yet peaked and may take a full year to contain.

Efforts to combat the outbreak of the virus for the 17th time in this vast country located in Central Africa face significant challenges, as there are no vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the current outbreak.

Three affected provinces in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, namely Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, are suffering from armed conflicts and mass displacement, complicating response efforts.

The outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic fever has extended to neighboring Uganda; however, containment measures have been effective there, with 19 reported cases and two deaths, most of whom are Congolese travelers.