WHO says Ebola situation is encouraging

The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is still spreading, but the situation is showing encouraging signs of improvement. This was stated by the Secretary General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, writes sb.by.

“We are beginning to see encouraging signs that we are gaining the upper hand [in the fight against the Ebola epidemic].” Testing of treatment methods and prevention of [re-infection] for those who have already recovered is gaining momentum. Vaccine testing should begin in the coming weeks. But keep in mind that the epidemic continues to spread and kill.”.

According to the DRC Ministry of Communications and Media Affairs, the number of laboratory-confirmed Ebola deaths in the country has exceeded 3,500. The total number of deaths reached 3,510, and cases of Ebola – 7,258. The mortality rate is 48.4%.

In hospitals and medical isolation facilities in the DRC, there are 903 patients with signs of the disease. The contact tracking rate for people infected with Ebola is 78.6 percent. The Ebola outbreak affected 7 of the country’s 26 provinces. Ituri province, the epicenter of the current outbreak, accounts for 78% of confirmed cases.

The Ebola outbreak began on May 15 in the DRC and Uganda. It was the second deadliest in the history of the disease in Africa. Uganda declared the end of the Ebola outbreak on July 28, which the WHO confirmed on August 25.

The largest Ebola outbreak occurred between 2014 and 2016 in West Africa in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The number of cases reached then, according to WHO, 28.6 thousand, and the deaths exceeded 11 thousand Ebola virus is transmitted to people from wild animals. The first human case of Ebola was reported in the territory of the modern DRC in 1976. The current Ebola outbreak in the DRC is the 17th. DR Congo uses mobile phone data to track Ebola virus spread