A new outbreak of Ebola has been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
And five people, including a 15-year-old girl, have already succumbed to the deadly disease with a total of nice cases as reported by UNICEF.
Early Monday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted news that six cases had been reported in Mbandaka, in the country’s northwest Equateur province.
It’s the country’s 11th outbreak of the potentially deadly virus, which is passed by bodily fluids and has a fatality rate of anywhere between 25% and 90%, depending on the outbreak.
A new #Ebola outbreak detected in western #DRC, near Mbandaka, Équateur province. @MinSanteRDC has identified 6 cases, of which 4 people have died. The country is also in final phase of battling Ebola in eastern DRC, #COVID19 & the world’s largest measles outbreak.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) June 1, 2020
The Democratic Republic of Congo is still struggling to end an outbreak that started in 2018 in the eastern part of the country, in which 3,406 cases have been reported, with 2,243 deaths, according to WHO.
There has not been a new case in the past 21 days in that outbreak. Because Ebola has an incubation period of 21 days, that suggests the outbreak may be under control but WHO waits for two full incubation periods, or 42 days, to be sure before determining that an outbreak has ended.
US Says There Is Evidence This Ebola Drug Can Help People Recover From Coronavirus