World Health Organization (WHO) activists reopen the home of a pastor who tested positive for Ebola on June 13, 2019 in Beni.
Sally Hayden | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
The World Health Organization on Friday confirmed a third case of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo as health officials are likely to vaccinate residents and a possible outbreak.
Earlier this week, the World Health Organization confirmed that a woman had died of the disease at the Ebola outbreak center declared in June in the city of Butembo in North Kivu province. The WHO has since confirmed two more cases, including one of the deceased, said Dr. Mike Rhea, executive director of the WHO’s health emergency program, on Friday.
The number of people exposed to the virus rose from 70 on Monday to 182 on Monday, Ryan said. He added that all but three of those people had been contacted, and that more than half of them had been vaccinated against Ebola during a previous epidemic.
“We’re seeing some of the benefits of previous vaccinations, but obviously we have to look at the length of time the vaccine protects.”
He added that new shipments of the vaccine have arrived in Buttembo this week. Ultracold-chain storage devices are being set up in Butembo and staff are being trained, Rhea said.
The DRC also has other therapies, including Ebola monoclonal anitobody treatment, in the capital Kinshasa and another city, Embandaka, Ryan said, adding that over the weekend they will be taken to North Kivu. The DRC has enough vaccines for 16,000 people in the country, it is not clear how many have reached Butambo.
The WHO of the first Ebola case is “still unclear around the source of the original community”, RJ said, adding that the DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research is looking for virus samples at its main lab in Kinshasa to determine whether new cases are involved. . The last Butembo eruption. RJ said results are expected over the weekend.
The outbreak of Ebola, announced in June, lasted nearly two years. According to the WHO, it was the second largest country in the world, with a total of 48,4811 cases and 2,99 deaths by the end of the year.
The WHO noted that the response to the outbreak in North Kivu province has been particularly difficult because of the ongoing violent conflict in the area, which is controlled by more than 100 different armed groups, according to Human Rights Watch.
RJ said the WHO was working with non-governmental organizations, the DRC government and other UN agencies such as UNICEF to respond to new Ebola cases.
Unlike highly contagious coronaviruses, which are spread by symptoms that do not have symptoms, Ebola is thought to be mainly spread to people who are already visually ill. U.S. Department of Disease Control and Prevention According to the centers, the disease is spread by direct contact with the blood or body fluids of those who have died of the virus.
According to the WHO (UNO), the average case death rate in Ebola is 50%, although it does break out.
“Naturally, two cases and now a third with many covid do not sound like many in the light of what appears to be global, but we remain on the alert waiting for Ebola to return to eastern Congo, and we will do our best to support the government in response. Do everything, ”Ryan said.
.
