THERE has been a sudden uptick in deaths caused by the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bringing the number of people killed in the current outbreak up to 75.
In an update on 26 August, the World 午夜福利1000集合 Organization reported 111 cases of the haemorrhagic fever, which can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and, in some cases, internal bleeding.
Advertisement
Of these, 83 are confirmed cases and 28 are probable. That is more than double the numbers in a previous outbreak in the western part of the DRC that was declared over in June 2018. So far, 13 cases have been reported among health workers, including one death. Of the deaths so far, 47 are confirmed to be due to Ebola, and 28 are deemed probable.
The WHO response to the outbreak has been complicated by the fact that its epicentre, North Kivu Province, is ensnared in conflict and contains armed militias. It is also one of the country鈥檚 most populated regions and shares a border with Rwanda and Uganda, making it more urgent to contain the outbreak.
Five experimental therapies have been approved for use in the region, in an attempt to halt Ebola鈥檚 spread and improve survival rates for those who catch it. These include an antibody known as mAb114, which was isolated from a woman who survived a 1995 Ebola outbreak and is currently being tested in clinical trials.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, celebrated the first two Congolese patients to receive the antibody and recover, calling it 鈥渁 global first, and a ray of hope for people with the disease鈥�.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淓bola death count rises鈥�
