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GOMA, Congo (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Monday the convening of an emergency committee to determine whether the Ebola epidemic in Congo is a public health emergency of international concern while confirmed cases and deaths from the virus are increasing.
A logo is presented at the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland on November 22, 2017. REUTERS / Denis Balibouse
The expert committee can make recommendations to manage the outbreak, which was declared on August 1 and worsened, with the risk of spreading the virus from the northeastern Democratic Republic from Congo to Uganda and Rwanda.
The Congolese Ministry of Health said Monday that just last week, the Ebola virus confirmed 33 cases and that 24 of them died.
According to the ministry, the last cases were confirmed between October 8th and 14th. In total, more than 200 suspected cases of fatal haemorrhagic fever were reported in this outbreak, of which about 20 at a time were confirmed, while 130 people died since July.
Ebola is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of its victims. The Ministry of Health said 73 patients had received new experimental treatments. Of these, just over half recovered, 20 were still in the hospital and the rest died.
A plumber of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in eastern Congo was confirmed infected with the Ebola virus on Friday. This is the first case of a worker from the United States who contracted the disease during the current outbreak.
Report from Fiston Mahamba to Goma and Tom Miles in Geneva; Written by Tim Cocks; Edited by Toni Reinhold
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