Ebola - Congo The Democratic Republic Of The

Ebola – Congo The Democratic Republic Of The

February 7, 2021
2 min read

The Ministry of Health announced this Sun 7 Feb 2021 a resurgence of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a statement sent to 7SUR7.CD, the communication unit indicated that the minister of health had received a medical report of a new case of Ebola virus disease in Biena, in the territory of Butembo in North Kivu.

According to the same source, the case is a farmer, wife of an Ebola virus disease survivor. On 1 Feb 2021, she presented with typical features and went to the Biena health center, where a sample was taken, before she was admitted to Matanda hospital in Butembo. She died on 3 Feb 2021, and the Gene Xpert result came back positive, the statement said.

The health ministry says that the provincial response team is already hard at work. It will be supported by the national response team, which will visit Butembo shortly.

On 18 Nov 2020, health authorities declared the end of the 11th Ebola epidemic in Equateur in the north west of the country.

Photo: Ebola virus – Electron micrograph.

Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) or Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses. Signs and symptoms typically start between two days and three weeks after contracting the virus with a fever, sore throat, muscular pain, and headaches. Some people begin to bleed both internally and externally.

The disease has a high risk of death, killing 25% to 90% of those infected, with an average of about 50%.

Several vaccines for Ebola exist.

The disease was first identified in 1976, in two simultaneous outbreaks: one in Nzara (a town in South Sudan) and the other in Yambuku (Democratic Republic of the Congo), a village relatively near the Ebola River from which the disease takes its name.

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