WHO warns of risk of new Ebola cases after woman dies in DRC

The World Health Organization on Monday warned of a possible Ebola resurgence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the death of a woman from the disease.

The woman lived in Butembo, a town in North Kivu province and an epicenter of a previous Ebola epidemic that was declared over in June, according to the DRC’s health ministry.

More than 70 people who came into direct contact with the woman while she was contagious have already been identified, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference from headquarters on Monday. the agency in Geneva.

“So far, no other case has been identified,” Tedros said. “But it is possible that there are more cases because the woman had contact with many people after she became symptomatic.”

Unlike the highly infectious coronavirus, which can be spread by people who do not have symptoms, Ebola is believed to be spread primarily through people who are already visibly ill. The virus is spread through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of people who are sick or have died from the disease, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus can also spread through the semen of men who have recovered from the disease, according to the CDC. The woman who recently died in Butembo was married to an Ebola survivor, the WHO said.

Ebola has an average death rate of 50%, although it can vary depending on the epidemic, according to the WHO.

The DRC’s National Institute for Biomedical Research was sequencing samples of the virus at its main laboratory in Kinshasa, the country’s capital, to determine whether the woman’s recent death was associated with the previous outbreak in Butembo, WHO said .

The Ebola outbreak that was declared over in June lasted for almost two years. It was the second largest in the world and by the time it ended, there were 3,481 total cases and 2,299 deaths, according to the WHO.

WHO has noted that outbreak response efforts in North Kivu province have been particularly difficult due to ongoing violent conflicts in the region, which is occupied by more than 100 different armed groups, according to Human Rights Watch.

WHO has sent a rapid response team to Butembo, Tedros added, and vaccine doses are on their way. WHO says there are currently two licensed Ebola vaccines. Tedros did not say who is on his way to the area.

“Thanks to the enormous capacity built during the last outbreak, provincial health authorities have significant experience in responding to Ebola and in preventing further transmission,” Tedros said on Monday. “We hope the vaccination will start as soon as possible.”