The eleventh epidemic of hemorrhagic fever in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) expands in the province of Ecuador (northwest) eliciting the first signs of alarm, with fears about the amount and use of money destined to fight the virus, according to medical and official sources.
Since June 1, the new outbreak affects the region of Mbandaka, already affected in mid-July by hemorrhagic fever (54 cases, 33 deaths) and connected by river to the capital Kinshasa, about 600 kms as the crow flies.
“There are now 56 cases, which is very disturbing. This balance exceeds that of the previous one epidemic in this region”Declared on Thursday July 16, 2020 the regional director for Africa of the World Health Organization (WHO), Matshidiso Moeti.
The last balance of the Congolese Ministry of Health, on Friday, gave 58 cases -54 confirmed, four suspects- and 22 dead.
As in every epidemicWHO is afraid of lacking financingbecause there is a “competition” with the numerous diseases that also affect the GDR, like the covid-19, measles or cholera.
“We have less than USD 2 million in cash,” said a WHO official, Fadela Chaib, on the current epidemic of Ebola.
This new epidemic began 23 days before the proclaimed end of the tenth Ebola epidemic, more than 1,000 km to the east, mainly in the province of Kivu-Norte, an area also destabilized by the presence of dozens of armed groups.
With 2,287 dead out of a total of 3,470 cases, it was the Second most serious Ebola fever epidemic in history, after which West Africa suffered in 2014-2016 (more than 11,000 deaths).
The two Congolese epidemics do not have any common viral strain, WHO indicated. One of the challenges for health authorities is to overcome the “resistance” of the population before the vaccines or medical equipment (denial of diseaseI reject the hospitalizations, etc) .
–
