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AN Ebola virus outbreak has been confirmed in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, the country's Governor
has confirmed.

The health ministry said four cases of the virus have been
confirmed, while 20 deaths from hemorrhagic fever in and around
Mangina, a densely populated town 30km southwest of the city of
Beni and 100km from the Ugandan border have also been recorded.

A team of 12 experts from the health ministry will arrive in
Beni on Thursday to set up a mobile lab.

Julien Paluku wrote on Twitter: "Ebola virus conformed in North
Kivu province.

"The Minister of Health just announced it after confirmation of
the analysis at the INRB (Institut National de Recherche
Biomédicale).

"I call for calm and prudence."

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said
in a tweet that it has started moving staff and supplies to the
affected area.

He said: "Ebola is a constant threat in DRC. What adds to our
confidence in the country's ability to respond is the
transparency they have displayed once again.

"We will fight this one as we did the last.”

On Monday, health ministry said it had foound 25 cases of fever
near the town of Beni and that samples had been sent to the
capital Kinshasa for testing.

It added that there is no evidence that the new Ebola cases are
linked to a previous outbreak, which began in April and occurred
over 2,500 kilometres away.

Last week, DR Congo confirmed the end of a separate outbreak
that killed 33 people in the northwest.

Congolese and international health officials deployed an
experimental vaccine that helped contain its spread after it
reached a large river port city.

In May, international experts said there has been a massive
change in the urgency of the Congolese government to highlight
the risks of the virus spreading, which was downplayed during
the 2014 Western African epidemic.

Protection were distributed to local hospitals and traveller
screening commenced, even before the first cases of the
contagious virus were confirmed by health officials.

DR Congo health minister Oly Ilunga had said: "The government
knew this outbreak presented a higher risk than last year's
(smaller) outbreak due to the fact the health workers were among
the first victims.

"All the major international organisations have worked in better
alignment with the government's Ebola response plan."

This is the central African country's 10th Ebola outbreak since
1976, when the virus was discovered near the eponymous river in
the north.

Ebola, believed to be spread over long distances by bats, causes
hemorrhagic fever, vomiting and diarrhea.

It is spread through direct contact with body fluids, and often
spreads to humans via infected bush meat.

Between 2013 and 2016, an ebola outbreak concentrated in Sierra
Leone, Liberia and Guinea killed at least 11,300 people.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/997484/ebola-outbreak-dr- congo-ebola-outbreak-latest
 

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