Increase in Ebola Cases in Congo to 933, Including 245 Deaths

SadaNews - On Friday evening, the Minister of Health in the Democratic Republic of the Congo stated that the number of confirmed cases of the Ebola virus in the country has risen to 933, including 245 deaths.

In his remarks to reporters in Ituri Province, where the first cases in the current outbreak were reported, Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said that 80 patients have recovered and left Ebola treatment centers.

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

Wissam Minkula, an official at the disease control center, stated, "What concerns us is the situation of contact tracing."

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

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

Combatting the virus's 17th outbreak in this vast country in Central Africa faces 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—Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu—are experiencing armed conflict and mass displacement, complicating response efforts.

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