DR Congo declares new Ebola outbreak in Equateur Province
Image credit: CDC
The health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a new outbreak of Ebola on April 23, 2022, after a case was confirmed in Mbandaka, a city in the north-western Equateur Province. This is the third outbreak in the province since 2018.
So far, just one case has been confirmed, WHO reports.1
The patient was a 31-year-old man who began experiencing symptoms on April 5 and after more than a week of care at home, sought treatment at a local health facility. He was admitted to an Ebola treatment center for intensive care on April 21 but died later that day.
Investigations to determine the source of the outbreak are ongoing.
“Time is not on our side,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa.
“The disease has had a two-week head start and we are now playing catch-up. The positive news is that health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have more experience than anyone else in the world at controlling Ebola outbreaks quickly.”
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is experiencing its fourteenth Ebola outbreak since 1976. The current outbreak is the sixth since 2018 alone – the most frequent occurrence in the country’s Ebola history. Previous outbreaks in Equateur Province were in 2020 and 2018, with 130 and 54 recorded cases respectively.
References:
1 Democratic Republic of Congo declares new Ebola outbreak in north-western province – WHO – April 23, 2022
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