At least 177 deaths may be linked to Ebola in DR Congo, says WHO

At least 177 deaths are considered linked to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with almost 750 suspected cases, said the director-general of the WHO (World Health Organization) this Friday (22), warning that violence is hampering the response to the epidemic.

"The Ebola situation in the DRC is deeply worrying," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a social media update, warned that authorities "know that the epidemic in the DRC is much larger" than the seven laboratory-confirmed deaths.

"These numbers are changing as surveillance efforts and laboratory testing improve, but violence and insecurity are hampering the response," Tedros added.

Another two confirmed cases and one death were reported in neighboring Uganda, the director said. He described the situation in Uganda as "stable" and stated that no new cases or deaths had been reported.

Understand how the Ebola outbreak began
The first known suspected case was that of a healthcare professional, whose symptoms began on April 24, according to the WHO (World Health Organization). The person later died at a medical center in Bunia, capital of Ituri province.

On May 5, the WHO received an alert about an "unknown disease" with high mortality in the province, the agency said. Following an investigation by a "rapid response team" on May 13, the outbreak was confirmed as Bundibugyo virus on May 15.

Jeremy Konyndyk, former Covid and disaster relief lead at USAID, said several "generations of transmission" must have gone undetected before the outbreak was confirmed, which he called a "huge problem."

On Sunday (17), the UN health body declared the epidemic a "public health emergency of international importance" and stated that the high positivity rate and the increase in the number of cases and deaths indicate "a potentially much larger outbreak".

WHO's Tedros Adhanon said this is the first time a director-general has declared such an emergency before convening the committee later on Tuesday (19).

Anne Ancia, WHO representative in the Democratic Republic of Congo, confirmed on Tuesday that the outbreak had also spread to North Kivu province, which directly borders Ituri, but added that there was still "significant uncertainty" about the actual number of infections.

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Source: CNN