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LONDON – The World Health Organization said a worrying number of new Ebola cases that appeared in the Congo during the Congo outbreak occurred in patients who are not known to have the disease: infants.
In an update released this week, the US health agency reported 36 new confirmed Ebola cases, including seven newborns and infants under 2 years of age. Six cases have been reported in children aged 2 to 17 and one in a pregnant woman.
Although the Ebola virus usually infects adults because they are most likely to be exposed to the deadly virus, children are sometimes known to catch the disease when they act as caregivers.
Few cases of Ebola in babies have been reported, but experts believe that transmission could take place through breast milk or close contact with infected parents. The Ebola virus is usually transmitted by infected body fluids. The WHO noted that health centers have been identified as a source of Ebola virus transmission, with drug injections being "a notable cause".
WHO has described the current epidemic in Congo as "complex and complex". The Congo Ministry of Health said that 346 cases have been confirmed, including 175 deaths, in what has become the worst Ebola outbreak in the country's history.
The epidemic is plagued by security problems, health workers were attacked by rebels in districts where the virus was spreading. Earlier this month, Ebola containment operations were halted following the deaths of seven US peacekeepers and 12 Congolese soldiers, but all activities have resumed.
The growing number of cases among children and health workers – 39 health workers have been infected so far – suggests that people who have faced an epidemic have big problems to stop the virus in the clinics and convince people seek help when they develop symptoms. This is the first time that part of the Congo is facing an Ebola outbreak.
The WHO said the risk of spread of the epidemic in neighboring countries remains "very high", but it does not recommend any travel restrictions. Uganda began this month to vaccinate Ebola health workers in a high-traffic border district close to the outbreak.
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