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A five-year-old boy from the Democratic Republic of Congo receives treatment for the Ebola virus in Uganda. This is the first confirmed case of the virus that crosses an international border since the outbreak that erupted last year, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. .
Many potential case alerts have been followed in Uganda since the beginning of the Congolese epidemic, but this is the first confirmed infection and marks a significant escalation of the epidemic, already the second worst of history.
On June 9, the boy crossed the border with his family and is currently being treated at a medical center in western Uganda, the WHO said.
The International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization that fights the epidemic in Congo, said it was "extremely alarmed" by the changing situation.
"The spread of the Ebola virus at the international border is a clear sign that the international community must redouble its efforts and redouble its efforts," he said.
Since August, when the first cases were identified, 1,390 people have died, said Congo's health ministry on Monday, making the country the worst virus outbreak ever recorded.
A vaccine is available and the Congolese authorities have managed to contain Ebola outbreaks in the past. But the current violence in eastern Congo, coupled with the suspicion of aid workers among the local population, has made the outbreak much more difficult to contain.
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