With 49 deaths and more than 2000 people followed, the Ebola-hemorrhagic fever epidemic has gradually increased in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo for 18 days, weakened by violence and displacements. The epidemic reported 49 of the 90 reported cases in the province of North Kivu on 1 August, according to the latest bulletin of the "epidemiological situation" of the Congolese Ministry of Health on Saturday.
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The Directorate-General for Disease Control records 22 deaths in 63 cases confirmed by laboratory tests on samples and 27 deaths probably due to Ebola, due to an" epidemiological link "with the virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) "expects more cases, it is unclear whether all transmission chains have been identified," spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters at the headquarters of Geneva on Friday.
Ten epidemics of Ebola
Most deaths (39) were recorded in the agricultural village of Mangina 30 km southwest of Beni, where the outbreak began. Three deaths have also been reported in the neighboring province of Ituri. Field teams also identified 2157 "contacts" according to the ministry, ie people who may have been in contact with the virus.
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Health workers do" a huge job to follow these contacts, continue active case studies and pave the way for vaccination teams, "says Congolese Ministry of Health. Vaccination is used as in the last epidemic in the province of Equateur in the northwest of the country, the end of which was announced on 24 July (33 deaths on 54 cases in total). A case of healing a 13-year-old girl was reported in Beni.
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The DRC (formerly Zaïre) has had 10 Ebola epidemics since 1976. But this is the first time that the virus is in a densely populated area of armed conflicts with major population movements. Beni and his region are living under the threat of the Ugandan Allied Defense Force (ADF), reportedly responsible for the massacre of hundreds of civilians since 2014, and the displacement of thousands of people.
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