DRC: concern after the increase in the number of Ebola cases

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2 min

In the DRC, the World Health Organization (WHO) is sounding the alarm. The bar of 100 detected cases of Ebola was crossed in the province of Equateur, in the west of the country, and this less than 100 days after the declaration of the epidemic.

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Forty three deaths were recorded in the province of Equateur, which was already hit by an Ebola epidemic in 2018. “  What worries us today is that we have 11 health zones affected while the previous epidemic in the same province ended in three affected health zones  , ”explains Mory Keita, the WHO responsible for Ebola incidents in Mbandaka.

"  This dispersion means that we have many logistical challenges because, to deploy in very remote health zones, without roads, you have to take boats or take the helicopter, this makes the operation very difficult  ", continues -he.

More than the number of cases , it is their spread over the territory that is worrying. "  It is the dispersion of cases that worries us, but not the number of cases as such because it should be remembered that the particularity of this epidemic is that it started in a large city. in Mbandaka, unlike that of 2018 when the epidemic had started in a rural area  ”.

The WHO responsible for Ebola incidents in Mbandaka adds that "  the flow of movements from large cities to rural areas is very intense because there is a goodwill to collect goods at that level, while that the movement from rural areas to the urban center is a little bit limited  ”.

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• DRC
• Ebola

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