The current ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has caused the death of 2.231 people since it was declared, in August of 2018, a total of 3.373 cases of infection, according to the Health authorities of the african country. The NGO Doctors without Borders has seen some slowdown in the rate of occurrence of new cases, a sign “positive”, although without forgetting the “serious” public health crisis” that the country lives.
The report, released Sunday by the Committee multi-Sectoral Response to the Epidemic, collects cases since declared the outbreak for the past 16 months, mainly affecting the provinces of north Kivu and south Kivu of the Note and Ituri, in the east of the country. Health authorities have reported further that “they are investigating 341 suspicious cases”.
According to MSF, the number of new cases between June and August was between 75 and 100 per week. Since then, there has been a slow descent. In October alone were identified 70 new cases.
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The actions of struggle against the virus is disrupted periodically due to the presence of numerous militias in the affected areas. Members of the health teams have been killed or wounded in armed attacks in North Kivu and in Ituri, and the health centers created to address the victims are also the target of attacks.
As is customary in their monthly reports, MSF requested that their teams are working in the best conditions possible, since the action of the militias has forced the suspension of the operations of various humanitarian groups. In fact, the MSF had to suspend this week its operations against ebola in the region Biakato, in the province of Ituri, due to the presence of armed forces in medical facilities.
The current ebola epidemic is the tenth in the territory of drc since 1976, and the second most serious of the history after that of West Africa in 2014 (11,000 deaths in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea).
