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An epidemic of the Ebola virus has broken out in the Equatorial Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today declared an outbreak of Ebola after a case was confirmed in Mbandaka, a city in the northwestern province of Equator. This is the third outbreak in the province since 2018.
The patient, a 31-year-old man, began experiencing symptoms on April 5 and, after more than a week of home care, sought treatment at a local health facility. On April 21, the patient was admitted to the Ebola Intensive Care Center, but died later that day. After recognizing the symptoms, health professionals immediately sent samples to test for disease caused by the Ebola virus. Investigations are underway to determine the source of the epidemic.
“The weather is not on our side,” said Dr Matshidiso Moetti, regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Africa. “The disease is two weeks ahead and we are now playing catch-up. The good news is that health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have more experience than anyone else in the world in rapidly controlling Ebola outbreaks.
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The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been experiencing its fourteenth Ebola outbreak since 1976. The current outbreak is the sixth since 2018 – the most common phenomenon in the history of Ebola in the country. Previous outbreaks in the Equatorial Province were in 2020 and 2018, with 130 and 54 cases reported, respectively.
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