Ebola hits again. A 31 year old boy died in Congo, in Mbandaka, a city in the northwestern province of the Equator. He was already vaccinated against the virus. For the health authorities of the Democratic Republic it is a outbreakwould be the third in the area since 2018.
Lassa fever, a newborn in the UK died, other family members infected: an outbreak is feared
Ebola outbreak, what happens
The 31-year-old male, a student from Boende in the province of Tshuapa, returned to Mbandaka and started experiencing the first symptoms (fever and headache) on April 5. Then the situation worsened and he was admitted to the Bongisa Libota Health Center in Mbandaka on April 16, where he was hospitalized for three days, before being transferred to Wangata General Reference Hospital in Mbandaka on April 19. On April 21, signs of hemorrhagic fever appeared, and the patient was placed in solitary confinement at the Wangata Ebola Treatment Center as a suspected EVD patient, but died the same day.
Omicron 2, one of the most contagious viruses in the world (after measles): but mortality is far from the Black Death
The WHO alarm: “Time is not on our side”
“Time is not on our side,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Africa. “The disease had a two-week lead and now we are catching up. The positive news is that the health authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo have more experience than anyone else in the world in quickly controlling Ebola outbreaks. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been experiencing its 14th Ebola outbreak since 1976. The current outbreak is the sixth since 2018 alone, the most frequent event in the country’s Ebola history. Previous outbreaks in the province of the Equator occurred in 2020 and 2018, with 130 and 54 cases respectively recorded.
What do we know about Ebola
Ebola is a serious, often fatal disease that affects humans and other primates. Case mortality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks. Effective treatment is now available, and if patients receive early treatment, as well as supportive care, their chances of survival are significantly improved.