Over 600 cases of life-threatening Ebola virus in Congo
In the eastern part of the Congo, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 600 people have been infected with the life-threatening Ebola virus, of which 560 cases are confirmed and 48 cases are probable, the WHO said today in Geneva.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic in August, 365 people have died from the disease, including eighteen emergency workers.
The majority of new cases occurred in cities and urban environments in the northeast of the country. Reducing the fever, which is characterized by bleeding, is particularly difficult in the province of North Kivu because several armed groups are active in this area, which is rich in raw materials.
According to the WHO, this is now the second heaviest outbreak of Ebola in history. In the so far largest epidemic in western Africa, more than 11,000 people died in 2014 and 2015.
According to the WHO, efforts to prevent the spread of Ebola were also hampered by the bloody protests surrounding the presidential elections last Sunday. Protesters protested against the postponement of the polls and attacked on a hospital in the city of Beni.
As a result, fewer vaccinations could be carried out, the WHO informed. The organization fears that the turmoil in the country will destroy progress in the fight against the life-threatening fever.
