Ebola deaths and infections are increasing in the DRC

Ebola deaths and infections are increasing in the DRC

Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The eleventh outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is spreading throughout the Equateur province. This outbreak emerged with the ending of the tenth outbreak in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.

Sadly, the last outbreak killed approximately 2,300 people. Thus, with the new outbreak being in its infancy, the fear is that the Ebola outbreak in Equateur will get worse in the following months.

At the moment, 43 out of 100 infected have died in the eleventh outbreak of Ebola (declared on June 1). Hence, limited resources are a huge concern along with the remoteness of the region.

UNICEF declared, “The resurfacing of Ebola in Équateur comes just as DRC was approaching the end of the current outbreak in the eastern part of the country, which has killed 2,134 people and infected 3,317.  Équateur experienced a short outbreak from May to July 2018 during which 33 people died and 54 people were infected. Ebola has a mortality rate between 50 per cent and 60 per cent but can be as high as 78 per cent among children under five.”

Emergency funding is needed in the DRC to contain the crisis and to speed up care. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the average time of five days for helping someone is extremely dangerous. This applies to the survival rate and infecting other people.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, uttered, “This is concerning because the longer a patient goes without treatment, the lower their chances of survival, and the longer the virus can spread unseen in communities.”

The DRC is blighted by ethnic and religious massacres, millions of internal refugees, a weak infrastructure, and various health problems. This includes the Bubonic Plague, Covid-19, Ebola, HIV, Malaria, Measles, and other issues.

Therefore, the international community needs to support indigenous health networks, charities on the ground, and international organizations to fight against Ebola and other ills that blight this nation.

https://www.voanews.com/africa/ebola-spreading-rapidly-dr-congos-equateur-province

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