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KINSHASA – A new case of the Ebola virus was detected in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the city of Butembo, and the infected person died, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
A woman was found with symptoms of the deadly virus in the city of Biena on February 1 and died in Butembo hospital on February 3. She was married to a man who had contracted the virus in a previous outbreak.
“The provincial response team is already working hard. It will be supported by the national response team that will visit Butembo shortly,” the statement read.
The announcement potentially marks the start of the 12th Ebola outbreak in the Congo since the virus was discovered near the Ebola River in 1976, more than twice that of any other country.
It comes nearly three months after the Congo announced the end of its 11th outbreak hundreds of miles away in the west, which infected 130 people and killed 55. That outbreak overlapped with an earlier one in the east that killed more than 2,200 people, the second. most in the history of the disease.
The emergence of more cases could complicate efforts to eradicate COVID-19, which has infected 23,600 people and killed 681 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A vaccination campaign is expected to begin in the first half of this year.
The equatorial forests of the Congo are a natural reservoir for the Ebola virus, which causes severe vomiting and diarrhea and is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids. – Reuters
