The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo through the Ministry of Health has declared an outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in the Mbandaka Health Zone, Equateur province, bordering the Congo and Ruki Rivers in northwest DRC.
The outbreak is the 14th after one confirmed case was reported on Saturday in Mbandaka, a city in the DRC’s Equateur Province
The World Health Organization WHO says the second fatality was a female relative of the first case.
According to the WHO, the patient died before receiving any treatment. On Monday health authorities said more than 100 people had been identified as possible contacts, and a vaccine was expected to be rolled out this week.
Samples analysed at the main laboratory in Kinshasa showed that the new outbreak is not linked to previous ones including one that ended two years ago, which caused more than 2,000 deaths.
Authorities in the country say some 1,300 vaccines are scheduled to be flown from Goma, in the eastern part of the country, to Mbandaka. And, vaccination exercise will begin on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Health in DRC is currently conducting an in-depth case investigation and has listed 74 contacts of the deceased with disinfection of households and local health facilities is ongoing. Overall, the risk of spread of the outbreak is high, demanding rapid implementation of public health measures, including thorough contact tracing and follow up.
More over WHO said investigations to determine the source of the current outbreak remain ongoing. There have been three outbreaks of Ebola in Equateur Province since 2018.
Source: Africa news
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