Ebola is spreading again in Congo — this time in an active war zone
Not only a war zone, but a heavily populated part of the Congo. The WHO is deploying their new vaccines that they developed due to the last Ebola outbreak.
Just one week after an outbreak of the Ebola virus was extinguished in northwestern Congo, a new one was declared in the country’s conflict-hit northeast. This is Congo’s 10th Ebola outbreak since the 1970s, and some health officials are worried it might be the hardest to contain.
The new outbreak is centered on a thickly populated stretch of Congo’s eastern border with Uganda — an area that is also the epicenter of decades-long clashes between dozens of militias that have forced millions into squalid refugee camps.
At least 43 people are believed to have been infected in North Kivu province, including 36 who have died, Congo’s health ministry said on Tuesday. Sixteen of the cases were confirmed to be Ebola.
While Congo has experienced the most outbreaks of the Ebola virus, this is the first time it has cropped up in this part of the country. Lab tests have confirmed it is the same strain as the previous outbreak, which started in early May, but there is no indication the outbreaks are related.