Tag: Ebola

Ebola cases climb to 100 in latest DR Congo outbreak

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — One hundred cases of Ebola have been recorded in DR Congo’s northwest in less than three months, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday as it warned the response to the epidemic is underfunded. The outbreak was reported in Equateur province on June 1, just as the country was preparing to declare an end to a separate Ebola epidemic in the east that claimed over 2,000 lives. The latest outbreak […]

Ebola cases rise in new DR Congo outbreak

by Junior KANNAH / Samir TOUNSI à KINSHASA MBANDAKA, DR Congo (AFP) — The Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo’s northwest is growing, according to health officials, sounding the alarm weeks after the country officially declared an end to a separate Ebola epidemic which claimed over 2,000 lives. There have been 54 confirmed cases since June 1 in Mbandaka, a transport hub in Equateur province, including 22 deaths, according to figures released by the country’s […]

DR Congo declares end to Ebola epidemic in east

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — DR Congo’s government on Thursday officially declared an end to an Ebola epidemic that broke out in the east of the troubled country in August 2018 and went on to claim 2,277 lives. The outbreak was “the longest, most complex and deadliest” in the 60-year history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Health Minister Eteni Longondo said. It has only been surpassed by the 2013-16 Ebola epidemic in West Africa […]

Ebola vaccinations underway in new DR Congo outbreak

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — Health workers in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo have begun administering vaccinations after the country’s 11th known outbreak of Ebola erupted last week, the authorities said Monday. Six people have died of the much-feared haemorrhagic virus since June 1, when the first cases came to light in Mbandaka, capital of Equateur province. The outbreak coincides with a waning epidemic in the east of the country where 2,280 have died since […]

DR Congo reports fresh Ebola outbreak

KINSHASA, DR CONGO (AFP) — DR Congo on Monday reported a fresh Ebola outbreak in the country’s northwest, just weeks before it hoped to declare the end of another epidemic in the east. The appearance of the deadly disease on the other side of the vast central African country comes as an added blow as it attempts to also battle the coronavirus pandemic. Health Minister Eteni Longondo said that “four people have already died” from […]

WHO emergency committee meets on Ebola after new DRC case

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The WHO said its emergency committee would meet Tuesday to discuss whether the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo still constitutes an international health emergency after fresh cases were detected. The meeting comes a day after DR Congo had been expected to announce that the outbreak in the east of the country that began in August 2018 was over. The epidemic has killed 2,276 people to date. For […]

Second Ebola death in DR Congo ahead of hoped-for deadline

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — A second death from Ebola has been recorded in eastern DR Congo in the final days before a deadline, now scrapped, in which health authorities hoped to declare an end to a 20-month epidemic. Hopes had been high that the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday would officially bring the curtain down on the country’s 10th known outbreak of the notorious hemorrhagic fever. But on Friday, a 26-year-old man was […]

Ebola virus on the rise again in Democratic Republic of Congo amid COVID-19 pandemic

  (Eagle News) — The World Health Organization said that it has confirmed “a new case of Ebola virus disease” in the city of Beni in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “While not welcome news, this is an event we anticipated. We kept response teams in Beni and other high risk areas for precisely this reason,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. Tedros said that with the confirmed […]

Italian doctors cure coronavirus patients with anti-Ebola, anti-AIDS drugs

  ROME, February 27 (Sputnik) – The first three patients who have been cured of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Italy were treated with anti-Ebola and anti-AIDS drugs, representatives of the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome told Sputnik. Those who were cured in Italy so far are two Chinese tourists and one Italian national who had visited China’s Wuhan, from which the virus originated. All three were treated in the Lazzaro […]

Japan launches human trial of new Ebola vaccine

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese scientists will begin the country’s first human trial for a new vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus this month, they said Friday. The vaccine, which has previously been tested in monkeys, uses an inactivated form of the virus that can only effectively replicate in artificial cells. Scientists hope that will make it safer than other treatments, the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo said in a […]

WHO prequalifies first Ebola vaccine

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said it had prequalified an Ebola vaccine for the first time, hailing a “critical step” towards its licensing, access and roll-out in countries most at risk of outbreaks. “This is the fastest vaccine prequalification process ever conducted by WHO,” it said in a statement, explaining that “prequalification means that the vaccine meets WHO standards for quality, safety, and efficacy.” The announcement comes hot on […]

Rwanda shuts DR Congo border after Ebola cases in frontier city

  By Bienvenu-Marie Bakumanya and Albert Kambale Agence France-Presse GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — Rwanda has shuttered its frontier with Ebola-hit Democratic Republic of Congo after a third case of the deadly virus was detected in the border city of Goma, the Congolese presidency said Thursday. The announcement coincided with the first anniversary of an epidemic that has claimed more than 1,800 lives, stoking dread that the disease may spread from eastern DRC to vulnerable […]