Ebola crisis: confirmation of the second death in Goma, a border town of DR Congo

A second person died of Ebola on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, fearing that the deadly disease would spread.

The artisbad miner died Wednesday morning in the city of Goma, home to two million people, authorities said.

Since the beginning of the epidemic in August 2018, more than 1,600 people have died of Ebola in DR Congo, but they are in more remote areas.

The World Health Organization has called this a global health emergency last week.

This is the highest alarm level that the WHO can ring and has only been used four times before – including the Ebola outbreak that has devastated parts of West Africa from 2014 to 2016 and killed more than 11,000 people.

The latest victim, from the northeastern province of Ituri, fell ill and was admitted to a health center in Kiziba, a suburb of Goma, on 13 July.

He subsequently developed symptoms of bleeding and bruising and was tested positive for the Ebola virus on Tuesday.

He died Wednesday morning.

What is the situation in Goma?

Ebola affects two provinces of the DR Congo: North Kivu and Ituri. Goma is the capital of North Kivu and is right in front of the Rwandan city of Gisenyi.

Until now, the virus was mainly contained in more remote areas, mainly around Beni and Butembo, north of Goma.

But the AFP news agency reports that 15 people from South Kivu province have been quarantined, fearing the virus will spread further.

A priest in Goma died of Ebola earlier this month. The WHO called it "a game changer", but up to now, there had been no other confirmed cases in the city.

As Goma is a transport hub, the last death in question is of particular concern because it is much more difficult to isolate patients and seek out contacts in large cities, where large, highly mobile populations live nearby.

It is feared that the disease will spread in Rwanda as people move daily between Goma and Gisenyi.

Although Rwanda has not yet had any confirmed cases, it has set up an Ebola treatment center and is preparing 23 isolation centers in case of infections.

"Rwanda has made a significant investment in Ebola preparedness," said WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"But as long as the epidemic continues in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a very real risk of spread to neighboring countries."

How serious is the situation in DR Congo?

More than 2,500 people have been infected and two-thirds of them have died.

It took 224 days for the number of cases to reach 1,000, but only 71 additional days to reach 2,000.

About 12 new cases are reported each day.

Is there not a vaccine?

Yes.

It is 99% effective and more than 161,000 people have received it.

Multimedia playback is not supported on your device

However, not everyone is vaccinated – only people who come into direct contact with a patient with Ebola and people who come into contact with them.

And some of these people refuse to take it.

People give several reasons not to take it: they do not want to put liquid outside in their body; they have a religion that does not want them to take vaccines; they do not believe in Ebola or because they think they do not need it.

The vaccine, manufactured by Merck, was developed during the outbreak in West Africa and was available throughout the last outbreak.

Its efficacy has been shown to be effective, but it is relatively rare and WHO has therefore recommended a second vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson.

But the DRC's health minister, Oly Ilunga, complained that the Congolese are being treated as "experimental subjects," Reuters reported, and he resigned.

Why has the epidemic not been controlled?

The fight against the disease has been complicated by the conflict in the region.

Since January, 198 attacks on health workers or Ebola treatment facilities have left 7 dead and 58 injured.

Another major problem has been the mistrust of health care workers, which explains that about one-third of deaths occur in the community rather than in a specialized Ebola treatment center.

This means that these people do not seek treatment and may spread the disease to their neighbors and relatives.

It has also been difficult to track the spread of the virus.

Is the world doing enough to help?

For months, WHO has been aware that it has insufficient funds to deal with the problem.

He estimated that he needed $ 98 million to deal with the outbreak between February and July. Yet, it was $ 54 million missing.

What is Ebola?

• Ebola is a virus that initially causes sudden fever, severe weakness, muscle aches and sore throat.
• It turns into vomiting, diarrhea and internal and external bleeding
• People are infected when they are in direct contact with the blood, vomit, stool or body fluids of a person with Ebola through broken skin, or from the skin. mouth or nose.
• Patients tend to die from dehydration and multiple organ failure