Over 1,000 deaths recorded in Ebola outbreak in DRC, Uganda: WHO

GENEVA: The Ebola outbreak declared in May has killed more than 1,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday (Jul 22).

In all, 2,473 cases of the deadly virus, including 999 deaths, have been confirmed in DRC, while 20 cases, including two deaths have been registered in neighbouring Uganda, according to a WHO overview based on official data from the two countries.

The DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak was declared on May 15 after several deaths in Ituri, and has remained concentrated in the mineral-rich northeastern province, plagued by armed groups.

Efforts to control the outbreak through contact tracing requires “enormous resources” because of Ituri’s poverty and violence, said Trish Newport, director of emergency programmes for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Bunia, the provincial capital.

Some of the deceased are buried without protective measures by their families, accelerating the spread of infection.

“A single death can lead to up to 17 cases of transmission,” said Newport.

A semblance of normality still prevails on the streets of Bunia, but many of its population of nearly one million are anxious.

“I saw three members of the same family die in the space of a week. It scared me so much,” says Heritier Bomengo, a motorbike taxi driver, who, like many of his colleagues, has stocked up on hand sanitiser.