Africa

Final 3 Weeks of July See 260 New Ebola Victims in DR Congo - UN Health Agency

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Health officials have detected an average of about 85 new cases of Ebola per week in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 260 confirmed infections reported in the final three weeks of July, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report on Friday.
Sputnik

"In the 21 days from 11 July through 31 July 2019, 71 health areas within 18 health zones reported new cases … within North Kivu and Ituri provinces", the report said. "During this period, a total of 260 confirmed cases were reported".

The number of new cases per week has recently ranged between 79 and 91, the report added.

"As of 31 July 2019, a total of 2713 EVD [Ebola Virus Disease] cases were reported, including 2619 confirmed and 94 probable cases, of which 1823 cases died (overall case fatality ratio 67 percent)", in the past year the report said.

At present, Ebola cases are confined to rural areas of North Kivu and Ituri provinces in the nation’s northeast, with the exception of four cases in Goma, a city of about 2 million on the nation’s border with Rwanda, according to the release.

Last week, Rwanda closed down border crossings near Goma only to reopen the crossings after several hours.

UN officials have warned that border closings drive victims into hiding, where they continue to spread disease.

 

Discuss