BENI, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said Sunday it feared a new outbreak of the Ebola virus in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo after the escape of a patient from a clinic, complicating authorities’ efforts to contain the disease that has infected six people since last week.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo was a few days away from the end of the second largest Ebola outbreak in the world after a new chain of infections was discovered on April 10, after more than seven weeks without new cases.
Health officials have since sought to contain any further spread of infections.
But on Friday, a 28-year-old motorcycle taxi driver who tested positive for Ebola fled from the center where he was being treated in the town of Beni.
“We don’t have details yet (…) The research is underway,” said Boubacar Diallo, a WHO official.
(Erikas Mwisi Kambale, French version Matthieu Protard)
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