An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has spread from the countryside to a major city of 1.2million people, with the World Health Organisation saying it fears “an explosive increase” in cases.
Ebola takes between two and three days to develop once someone has been infected. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, decreased liver and kidney function and in extreme cases, internal and external bleeding.
Officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have said the Ebola outbreak in the vast central African country has entered “a new phase” after a case of the deadly virus was detected in the north-west city of Mbandaka.
The first urban case significantly escalates the risk of an epidemic, and has prompted the UN World Health Organization to convene an emergency committee on Friday to consider the danger of the disease spreading to other countries.
Late on Thursday, the country’s ministry of health announced 11 new confirmed Ebola cases and two deaths, taking the total number of cases to 45 (14 confirmed, 10 suspected, 21 probable). The deaths have occurred in Bikoro, a rural area about 150km from Mbandaka.
The WHO’s expert committee will decide whether to declare a “public health emergency of international concern”, which would trigger more international involvement, mobilising research and resources, the WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said on Thursday.
Officials to consider danger of Ebola spreading to other countries after disease reaches Mbandaka, home to a million people
“We are entering a new phase of the Ebola outbreak that is now affecting three health zones, including an urban health zone,” Oly Ilunga Kalenga, the health minister, said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
The vaccine requires storage at a temperature between -60C and -80C, tricky in a country with unreliable electricity.
“We are now tracing more than 4,000 contacts of patients and they have spread out all over the region of north-west Congo, so they have to be followed up and the only way to reach them is motorcycles,” Senior WHO official Peter Salama said.”
>Juthy Saha
