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Brussels –
The Ebola outbreak in northeastern Congo is still far from being under control after two months: the epidemic seems to be spreading even further, in the city of Butembo, where a million people live. This is what MSF-Holland reports on Tuesday. Monday saw equilibrium in the two affected provinces, Ituri and North Kivu, in 238 cases, including 203 confirmed patients and 35 suspected patients. 155 deaths have already occurred, of which 120 confirmed by Ebola. In the meantime, 63 people have been declared cured.
"What we see in Beni is particularly disturbing," says Anja Wolz, emergency coordinator at AzG. "Some were not on the list of people at risk, which makes it difficult for us to trace the chains of transmission, and we found that people died at home because of Ebola or were late in the treatment center, probably Because of a lack of confidence in the available response to the epidemic, these are ominous indications. "
The prevailing insecurity in the region also does not help the emergency services. After violent violence, in late September, the city was placed under guardianship, so that it was not possible to follow the files in progress nor to know who had fallen ill. There are also "red areas", areas where the answer can not penetrate due to insecurity. "Some contacts of Ebola patients have visited these areas," said the NGO. "We do not know if they are sick or not, or if others have become sick as well."
A dozen days ago, Congolese authorities warned that the country was facing a "second wave" of the epidemic. "The epicenter, which used to be in Mangina, is now in Beni," said Oly Ilunga, Congolese Minister of Health, at a press conference. Mangina is located about 20 km west of Beni, a city of a million inhabitants.
Currently, 16,202 people have been vaccinated. "The epidemic in Beni represents a significant risk (…) and the situation remains worrying," Ilunga said ten days ago.
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