DR Congo tracks possible spread of Ebola to provinces, says source

Health authorities in DR Congo are tracking down people potentially exposed to Ebola in two provinces previously unaffected by the most recent outbreak, amid fears the virus could spread further, according to a Health Ministry report and a senior health official.

The outbreak, declared on May 15, has so far infected 1,307 people and killed 377 in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, according to government data released on Monday (29).

In Tshopo province, health workers are tracking down people who may have had contact with the body of a pregnant woman who died of Ebola in the Niania health zone in Ituri, according to a Ministry of Health report dated June 29 and analyzed by Reuters.

The woman fell ill on June 18 and died on June 27, the report said. His body was transported by motorbike about 300 kilometers west to the town of Kisangani in neighboring Tshopo province, where a sample collected at a morgue tested positive for Ebola.

The report stated that the body's journey through various health zones before diagnosis created a high risk of transmission. Authorities have begun contact tracing efforts across the province.

Separately, a senior health official - who asked not to be named as he is not permitted to speak to the press - told Reuters that two people identified as contacts of Ebola cases in Niania, and who had been placed in isolation for testing, had fled to Haut-Uele province.

Like Tshopo, Haut-Uele borders Ituri. The province also borders South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

One of the two people tested positive for Ebola, the official said, while the second was awaiting a confirmatory test. Both have been located and are being taken back to Niania, the source said, while health teams are tracking down anyone they may have come into contact with in Haut-Uele.

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Source: CNN