Ebola death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo jumps to 55
Ebola death toll rises to 55 in the Democratic Republic of Congo – but many MORE could be dead from incurable virus in lawless militia zones
- Less than half of the deaths have been confirmed to be down to the killer virus
- But officials fear the remaining fatalities are likely to have been caused by Ebola
- Aid workers are battling round-the-clock to try and contain the large outbreak
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Fifty-five people are now feared to have died in the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Less than half of the deaths have been confirmed to be down to the virus, considered one of the most lethal pathogens in existence.
But health officials in the African nation fear the remaining fatalities are likely to have been caused by Ebola.
Aid workers are battling round-the-clock to contain the outbreak, which has struck the east of the country on the border with Uganda.
Virologists have already warned the situation is ‘hard to control’ because the cases are in a conflict zone, roamed by armed militias.
DRC’s Ministry of Health updated the Ebola death toll in its latest bulletin, released yesterday, as a mass vaccination campaign continues.
Aid workers are battling round-the-clock to contain the outbreak, which has struck the east of the country on the border with Uganda
It said the five new victims were in Mabalako-Mangina, close to Beni, the epicentre of the outbreak in the North Kivu province.
The body added 96 cases of haemorrhagic fever – thought to be Ebola – have been reported in the region since the start of August.
Laboratory tests have confirmed 69 of these have had Ebola, however the remaining suspected cases are still being analysed.
Beni’s mayor Jean Edmond Nyonyi Masumbuko Bwanakawa announced treatment for Ebola will be free in the region for three months, starting Monday.
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It is hoped the move will ‘remove the financial barrier that could dissuade the population from going to the health centre’.
It is the 10th outbreak to strike the DRC since 1976, when Ebola was first identified and named after a river in the north of the country.
The outbreak on the border of Uganda was announced just days after another was declared over in the north west DRC at the start of this month.
Virologists feared it was ‘reminiscent’ of the 2014 Ebola pandemic, which decimated West Africa and killed 11,000 people.
Emergency: A health worker gets ready to perform medical checks inside an Ebola Treatment Centre run by The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) in Beni
An Ebola patient is lead by two medical workers into CUBE, which has being constructed by The Alliance for International Medical Action in response to the Ebola outbreak
HAS THE DRC HAD AN EBOLA OUTBREAK BEFORE?
DRC escaped the brutal Ebola pandemic that began in 2014, which was finally declared over in January 2016 – but it was struck by a smaller outbreak last year.
Four DRC residents died from the virus in 2017. The outbreak lasted just 42 days and international aid teams were praised for their prompt responses.
The new outbreak is the DRC’s tenth since the discovery of Ebola in the country in 1976, named after the river. The outbreak earlier this summer was its ninth.
Health experts credit an awareness of the disease among the population and local medical staff’s experience treating for past successes containing its spread.
DRC’s vast, remote geography also gives it an advantage, as outbreaks are often localised and relatively easy to isolate.
But the new outbreak has already dwarfed the one earlier this summer, and has stoked more fears among the medical community.
In a desperate attempt to stem the outbreak, the World Health Organization’s chief last week called for an end to the fighting in the DRC.
Dr Tedros Adhanom travelled to east DRC to examine the situation in person and told reporters in Switzerland he was ‘actually more worried after the visit than before’.
He said: ‘We call on the warring parties for a cessation of hostilities because the virus is dangerous to all. It doesn’t choose between this group and that group.’
Professor Paul Hunter, a virologist at the University of East Anglia, last week praised an experimental vaccine being dished out in DRC that can stop the spread of Ebola.
However, he also raised fears that conflict in the region could make the outbreak hard to control, as those infected could be displaced into refugee camp, where the virus may thrive.
An Ebola patient is being checked by two medical workers after being admitted into a Biosecure Emergency care Unite (CUBE) in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo
He said: ‘The effectiveness of any immunization campaign depends on the ability to deliver that vaccine to the appropriate people is a timely manner.
‘Unfortunately the latest outbreak is in an area of armed conflict and this poses substantial difficulties for effective prevention.’
The unsafe burial of a 65-year-old Ebola sufferer triggered the latest outbreak in the DRC, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
After she was buried members of her family began to display symptoms of the virus ‘and seven of them died’.
Ebola virus disease, caused by the virus with its namesake, kills around 50 per cent of people it strikes – but there is no proven treatment available.
Eight healthcare workers have been struck down by Ebola so far in this outbreak, of whom one has died.
Genetic analysis has confirmed the virus strain in this latest outbreak is the Zaire strain, the same as the one earlier this summer.
Officials in the African nation have confirmed nine deaths so far (pictured: Doctors Without Borders team members walk through an Ebola security zone at the entrance of a hospital in DR Congo, where a fresh outbreak of the virus was declared in the east of the country)
However, Peter Salama, WHO deputy director for emergency preparedness and response, last week revealed it is genetically different.
Most of the confirmed cases have been recorded in Mabalako, 18 miles (30km) west of the trading hub of Beni, where 230,000 people live.
DRC health officials have also confirmed five cases of EVD in Beni itself, which borders Uganda and Rwanda. Another seven are suspected.
Aid workers have been told they will have to navigate their response among more than 100 armed groups.
A WHO spokesperson said last week: ‘This is an active conflict zone. The major barrier will be safely accessing the affected population.’
Vaccinations began two weeks ago, following the success of the jabs in Equateur province, which two weeks ago declared the end of its Ebola flare-up.
Some 33 people were feared to have died in that outbreak, which started in the poorly-connected region of Ikoko-Impenge and Bikoro.
It travelled 80 miles (130km) north to Mbandaka, a port city on the river Congo – an essential waterway – with around 1.2 million inhabitants.
There was a concern it would spread to Kinshasa – 364 miles (586km) south, which has an international airport and 12 million people residents.
Dr Derek Gatherer, a virologist from Lancaster University, warned the outbreak earlier this summer was ‘reminiscent’ of the 2014 Ebola pandemic.
All neighbouring countries were alerted about the outbreak of Ebola before it was declared over amid fears it could spread easily.
Officials hailed the use of an experimental vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, in stemming the Ebola outbreak in north west DRC in July.
More than 3,000 doses remain in stock in Kinshasa, allowing authorities to quickly deploy it to the affected areas near the Ugandan border.
Barthe Ndjoloko, who oversees the health ministry’s Ebola response, said officials are working to identify those who may be infected.
He revealed last week the vaccination campaign will focus on healthcare workers and those who have come into contact with confirmed cases.
The 2014 international response to the Ebola pandemic drew criticism for moving too slowly and prompted an apology from the WHO.
But international aid teams have moved much quicker in response this time – with vaccination campaigns already underway in several regions.
WHAT IS EBOLA AND HOW DEADLY IS IT?
Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever, killed at least 11,000 across the world after it decimated West Africa and spread rapidly over the space of two years.
That pandemic was officially declared over back in January 2016, when Liberia was announced to be Ebola-free by the WHO.
The country, rocked by back-to-back civil wars that ended in 2003, was hit the hardest by the fever, with 40 per cent of the deaths having occurred there.
Sierra Leone reported the highest number of Ebola cases, with nearly of all those infected having been residents of the nation.
WHERE DID IT BEGIN?
An analysis, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found the outbreak began in Guinea – which neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone.
A team of international researchers were able to trace the pandemic back to a two-year-old boy in Meliandou – about 400 miles (650km) from the capital, Conakry.
Emile Ouamouno, known more commonly as Patient Zero, may have contracted the deadly virus by playing with bats in a hollow tree, a study suggested.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE STRUCK DOWN?
Figures show nearly 29,000 people were infected from Ebola – meaning the virus killed around 40 per cent of those it struck.
Cases and deaths were also reported in Nigeria, Mali and the US – but on a much smaller scale, with 15 fatalities between the three nations.
Health officials in Guinea reported a mysterious bug in the south-eastern regions of the country before the WHO confirmed it was Ebola.
Ebola was first identified by scientists in 1976, but the most recent outbreak dwarfed all other ones recorded in history, figures show.
HOW DID HUMANS CONTRACT THE VIRUS?
Scientists believe Ebola is most often passed to humans by fruit bats, but antelope, porcupines, gorillas and chimpanzees could also be to blame.
It can be transmitted between humans through blood, secretions and other bodily fluids of people – and surfaces – that have been infected.
IS THERE A TREATMENT?
The WHO warns that there is ‘no proven treatment’ for Ebola – but dozens of drugs and jabs are being tested in case of a similarly devastating outbreak.
Hope exists though, after an experimental vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, protected nearly 6,000 people. The results were published in The Lancet journal.
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