Shafaqna Pakistan: More than 300 people died from Ebola in eastern Congo over the past week, marking one of the deadliest seven-day periods since the outbreak began, according to government data released on Monday. Health workers are struggling to contain the disease as infections continue to spread at an unprecedented pace.
Data from the Ministry of Health showed that the outbreak had reached 5,514 reported cases and 2,642 deaths as of Saturday, including 317 fatalities recorded during the previous seven days. However, Congolese health experts estimate that the actual scale of the outbreak could be up to three times larger, as the virus began spreading weeks before it was officially detected.
The outbreak is being described as the fastest-growing Ebola epidemic on record, with a significant number of victims dying outside treatment centres. At this stage, the outbreak has recorded seven times more deaths than were reported during the same period of the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic, which remains the deadliest Ebola outbreak, with more than 11,000 deaths overall.
Ituri province, currently the epicentre of the outbreak, continues to report a large proportion of new infections among people who were not previously identified as monitored contacts.
Nearly half of people infected have died — 47.9% — but the government data shows much higher rates in hard-to-reach areas such as North Kivu province, which has a fatality rate of 68.6%.
A key challenge has been the lack of approved vaccines or treatments for the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for the outbreak.
On Friday, Congo received more than 16,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine that was effective in past Ebola outbreaks caused by a different, more common type. The World Health Organization says it also will be used in clinical trials for a Bundibugyo virus vaccine.
WHO says it’s not known whether Ervebo can protect against the Bundibugyo virus, although early laboratory and animal data suggest it may offer some protection.
Officials have not said when the vaccine will be rolled out to frontline workers. In Ituri, locals expressed optimism that it will help slow the outbreak.
“I am very pleased that these vaccines have finally arrived,” said Héritier Ramazani, a resident. “We are fed up with recording new cases of Ebola every day.”
The outbreak is unfolding in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable, with rebel threats and intense population movements.
Medical teams in Ituri and other affected provinces also face work stoppages by responders who haven’t been paid, anger from long-traumatized communities, bad roads and misinformation claiming that Ebola isn’t real.
Source: Dunya News
