The Ministry of Health in the Democratic Republic of Congo has announced a new outbreak of Ebola, with 15 deaths and 28 suspected cases confirmed.
Reuters reports this.
The first person hospitalized was a 34-year-old pregnant woman in Kasai province on August 20. She had a high fever and was vomiting. The ministry did not specify whether she had died.
On Wednesday, September 3, samples taken showed the Zaire strain of the virus spreading in the country. The last Ebola outbreak in DR Congo occurred in 2022.
The World Health Organization expects the number of cases to rise, but said the DR Congo had a stockpile of medicines and 2,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine that would be delivered to Kasai to vaccinate health workers and those who had been in contact with patients.
More about Ebola
This is an acute, often fatal infectious disease caused by the Ebola virus.
The virus was first recorded in 1976 in Sudan and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) near the Ebola River – hence its name.
According to the Center for Public Health of the Ministry of Health, the virus is transmitted to humans from wild animals (monkeys, bats, antelopes, etc.) and spreads among people – from person to person during direct contact with biological fluids or infected objects.
The incubation period is from 2 to 21 days. The disease begins suddenly. First, there is an intense headache, mainly in the frontal or occipital areas, and the body temperature rises to 39–40°C.
On the 2nd–3rd day of illness, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting begin. In severe cases, a rash develops on the 4th–5th day of illness. These symptoms are accompanied by bleeding from the gums and nose, blood in the stool and vomit, and diarrhea. Death occurs in 60–85% of severe cases on the 7th–9th day with shock.
There are several vaccines against Ebola virus disease, including rVSV-ZEBOV (also known as Ervebo) and Ad26.ZEBOV/MVA-BN-Filo, which are used for prevention.
The largest Ebola outbreaks have been recorded in Ghana, Guinea, DR Congo, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
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