On Friday afternoon, the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) announced that 100 cases of Ebola had been registered in less than 100 days in connection with an ongoing outbreak in western parts of Congo.
The outbreak was discovered on June 1 in Equateur province, where a cluster of infections was discovered in the provincial capital Mbandaka. Since then, the outbreak has spread to 11 of the province’s 17 health zones.
43 died
96 of the cases are confirmed Ebola infection, while four are suspected Ebola infection. So far, 43 people connected to the outbreak have died, the WHO states in a press release.
– The outbreak in Equateur province is developing in a worrying way with 100 cases of infection in less than 100 days, says WHO Area Director, Matshidiso Moeti and adds:
– Viruses spread across a wide and rugged terrain that requires costly measures. It is difficult to scale up the work now that Covid-19 requires a lot of resources and attention.
The WHO states that it can take days for aid workers to get to local communities with equipment. This is because the area offers significant logistical challenges. The WHO states that the eruption has affected an area with distances of about 300 kilometers from east to west and from north to south. Some affected communities are described as remote and with dense forest.
EBOLA Foreign Minister Børge Brende is in Sierra Leone, and is receiving full training in the use of protective equipment against Ebola. Layer upon layer, the equipment should be fastened, before the body is completely completely covered. Video: NTB Scanpix view more
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Often fatal
National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) states that Ebola is a serious, often fatal, infection caused by a virus. Furthermore, they write that Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with body fluids from an infected person: blood, urine, feces and vomit.
The chance of being infected in Norway is described as extremely minimal. Symptoms of Ebola infection develop within 21 days, FHI states. If you have not developed symptoms within 21 days after you have been in contact with an Ebola patient, then you are not infected.
Other outbreaks
Most recently in May 2018, the same area was hit by an Ebola outbreak, which was declared in less than three months. At that time, 54 cases and 33 deaths were registered.
In August 2018, an area in eastern Congo was hit by an Ebola outbreak, according to NTB. As many as 2,277 people died before the WHO and the Congolese authorities declared the outbreak in the area over in June this year.
The WHO’s area director, Moeti, believes they have too little money to deal with the ongoing outbreak in western Congo. He fears that the Ebola outbreak will be neglected due to Covid-19.
Large parts of the aid workers have been mobilized by the Congolese authorities, according to the WHO. At present, the WHO has 90 experts in the field, as well as experts from around 20 organizations that support the work.
