Ebola outbreak worse than ever in the country's history

The latest outbreak of Ebola in Congo is the worst in the country's history, with 319 confirmed and probable cases, the health ministry said.

The deadly virus has killed about 198 people since the outbreak was declared on August 1 in the east of the country, the ministry said. Among those who died are 163 confirmed cases of Ebola and 35 probable deaths. Nearly 100 people survived Ebola.

It is the 10th outbreak in Congo since 1976, when the haemorrhagic fever was identified for the first time in Yambuku, province of Ecuador, the ministry said.

Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga said on Friday night that the numbers now exceed this epidemic.

"No other epidemic in the world has been as complex as the one we are currently experiencing," Kalenga said. "Since their arrival in the region, the intervention teams have faced threats, physical attacks, repeated destruction of their equipment and kidnappings. Two of our colleagues from the rapid intervention medical unit even lost their lives in an attack. "

Armed groups fighting for control of eastern Congo, rich in minerals, regularly carry out attacks in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, complicating the reaction of health officials who also encounter resistance from the community.

But health officials have managed to vaccinate more than 27,000 high-risk contacts, at least half of whom could have developed the Ebola virus, the health minister said.

"This epidemic remains dangerous and unpredictable and we must not let our guard down. We must continue to seek a very dynamic response that requires permanent readjustments and real ownership at the community level, "he said.

The chief of peacekeeping operations in the United States has committed this week to do more with the Congolese government to improve security in the east of the country.

This is the first time that an Ebola outbreak is occurring in the far northeastern Congo. The Ministry of Health said Ebola outbreak teams were attacked an average of three to four times a week, a level of violence never seen in the country's nine previous epidemics.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through the body fluids of infected people, including the dead.