Officials in Congo confirmed that the Republic is now battling a new Ebola outbreak in the western city of Mbandaka. The outbreak happens while the Democratic Republic of Congo is in the middle of rising COVID-19 infections and deaths, as well as the world's longest measle outbreak.
As of Monday, Congo has reported 3,195 COVID-19 cases and 72 related deaths. Since 2019, measles cases in the Republic reached 369,520. Deaths due to measles have also reached 6,779.
The new Ebola outbreak confirmed on Monday has now victimized six people of which five patients have already died. Deaths include a 15-year-old girl. Laboratory testing confirmed the cases, raising fears that more infections will turn up in the coming weeks.
The recent outbreak in Congo is the eleventh wave for the Republic since the virus was first detected in 1976 in the Ebola River. The virus was first detected in Mbandaka in 2018.
The fear now is that the virus can spread to Kinshasa which is home to 10 million people. Concerns are high since the virus crawled from North Kivu, a province by the Uganda border. The virus was not contained in the province due to an ongoing armed conflict.
Before the new cases of Ebola turned up in Mbandaka, officials were supposed to declare the end of the outbreaks in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri provinces. Officials were in the middle of a countdown that started on May 14.
The 10th wave of Ebola that took place in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri provinces, since August 1, 2018, killed 2,280. The total number of cases to date was 3,463.
The 9th wave of the Ebola outbreak was also reported in Mbandaka. It was declared on May 8, 2018, and ended on July 24, 2018. The 9th outbreak killed 33 and infected 38.
Speaking following confirmations of the new Ebola outbreak in Congo, Director-General for the World Health Organization Dr, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus said the organization is at the heads of multiple outbreaks happening simultaneously.
"This is a reminder that COVID-19 is not the only health threat people face... Although much of our attention is on the pandemic, WHO is continuing to monitor and respond to many other health emergencies," the director-general said.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr, Matshidiso Moeti, said the organization will deploy more experts to strengthen Congo's capacity to respond to outbreaks.
Additionally, UNICEF said it will deploy 36 staff to help Congo handle and effectively manage the outbreak, most especially that children's lives are also at risk.
"In the ongoing outbreak in Eastern DRC, more children, proportionately, are being affected than in any previous Ebola outbreak, so we must ensure that preventing infection among children is central to the response in Équateur," said UNICEF DRC Representative Edouard Beigbeder.
