Health officials in Congo have confirmed the outbreak of Ebola virus in the southern Kasai province.
The outbreak was detected in a 34-year-old pregnant woman from Boulapé.
Samuel-Roger Kamba, Congo’s health minister, stated, “To date, the provisional report shows 28 suspected cases and 15 deaths, including 14 in Boulapé and 1 in Mweka, as well as four health care workers.”
The deadly Ebola virus is highly lethal to humans and nonhuman primates (NHPs) with death rates expected to exponentially increase by 53.6%.
It’s worth noting that the infectious hemorrhagic fever can spread through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissues.
Ebola virus symptoms include headache, vomiting of blood, muscle pain and bleeding.
In 2022, Congo recorded nearly a dozen outbreaks in the Equateur province.
A devastating 2018-2020 outbreak wreaks havoc in the country, which claimed lives of up to 2,300 people.
The WHO stated Congo had a stockpile of treatments and 2,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine that will be transported to Kasai to vaccine the front-line health-care professionals.
The organisation further announced to deliver two tons of supplies including mobile laboratory equipment and medical supplies.