Four people have been confirmed to have Ebola near Beni in the north-east
The infections are over 1,500 miles from the last outbreak which ended in July
New outbreak must be contained in an active war zone near the Uganda border
Another Ebola outbreak has been declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo less than 10 days since the last one ended after killing 33 people
At least four people have tested positive for the deadly fever which causes people to haemorrhage blood and their organs to fail.
The latest cases have been found in and near a town called Mangina, about 62 miles (100km) from the border with Uganda in the country's north-east.
Experts from Congo's health ministry will arrive in the nearby city of Beni today, and the World Health Organisation has begun moving supplies to the area.
Some 20 people are reported to have died of haemorrhagic fever in the area already, the ministry said, but it did not say when that happened and it is not clear whether the deaths were linked to the new outbreak.
There are concerns if the outbreak spreads it will be near an active war zone in the region of North Kivu and in a place with close links to Rwanda and Uganda, increasing the risk of Ebola spreading across the border.
The outbreak is some 1,553 miles (2,500km) from where 33 people died of the haemorrhagic fever in the northwest of the country and is not thought to be linked.
No comments:
Post a Comment