Experts fear an 'explosive increase' in Ebola cases after an outbreak in Congo entered a 'new phase' and spread to a city.
The deadly virus was detected in the northwest city of Mbandaka, with a population of about 1 million people, the country's health minister revealed last night.
So far, the 23 deaths believed to have been caused by Democratic Republic of Congo's latest Ebola outbreak were in more isolated areas, giving authorities a better chance of ring-fencing the virus.
The first urban case to be announced threatens to change that. The World Health Organisation, which on Wednesday deployed the first experimental vaccines in the vast central African country, had expressed concern about the disease reaching Mbandaka, which would make the outbreak far harder to tackle.
Senior WHO official Peter Salama warned of an 'explosive increase' in cases calling the spread to a city 'a major development in the outbreak.'
Experts fear an 'explosive increase' in Ebola cases after an outbreak in Congo entered a 'new phase' and spread to a city. Health workers are pictured pulling on protective clothing as they prepare to visit patients.
So far, the 23 deaths believed to have been caused by Democratic Republic of Congo's
latest Ebola outbreak were in more isolated areas, giving authorities a better chance of ring-fencing the virus. Pictured: Liberian medics carry a dead body after an Ebola outbreak in 2014.
Adding to concerns is the city's location on the banks of the Congo River, a major thoroughfare for trade and transport into the capital, Kinshasa. The Congo Republic is on the other side of the river.
'We are entering a new phase of the Ebola outbreak that is now affecting three health zones, including an urban health zone,' Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga said in a statement.
'Since the announcement of the alert in Mbandaka, our epidemiologists are working in the field to identify people who have been in contact with suspected cases.'
CC:dailymail
No comments:
Post a Comment