The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported a second outbreak of Ebola fever. According to the organization, the spread of a deadly disease occurs in the city of Mbandaka, located in the north-west of the Republic of Congo.
WHO experts recorded six cases of infection. According to the organization, four of the patients died. It is reported by the British newspaper The Telegraph .
The first of the Ebola outbreak was publicly announced by Equatorial Governor Bobo Boloko Bolumbu. Speaking on local radio, the politician said that cases of Ebola infections were confirmed by the laboratory of the Institut National de la Recherche Biomedicale (INRB)[National Institute of Biomedical Research].
“The laboratory provided us with information that all deaths analyzed since May 18 are a consequence of the Ebola virus,” the head of the province said. He also urged fellow citizens to observe sanitary standards and to avoid contact with carriers of the virus. “Wash your hands regularly with soap. Do not greet each other with handshakes. Do not touch sick or dead people who have had fever or bleeding,” said Bolumbu.
Information on the spread of a deadly infection was confirmed by the country’s Minister of Health, Eteni Longondo. In turn, the head of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted that this is the second outbreak of Ebola since the beginning of the year.
“This outbreak is a reminder that #COVID19 is not the only health threat people face. WHO is continuing to monitor & respond to many health emergencies,” wrote Ghebreyesus on his Twitter.
.@WHO already has staff in Mbandaka, #DRC supporting the new #Ebola outbreak response.
This outbreak is a reminder that #COVID19 is not the only health threat people face. WHO is continuing to monitor & respond to many health emergencies.— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) June 1, 2020
Ebola hemorrhagic fever is an endemic disease in Equatorial Africa, a permanent threat to sub-Saharan Africa. The natural carrier of the virus are bats. For bats, the Ebola virus is harmless, but for monkeys and humans, contact with it usually ends in death.
Major epidemics occur in Africa from time to time. The last of them took place in 2014. Then the infection spread to the West African region, spreading through the territories of Liberia Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Nigeria. A total of 21.7 infections were registered, 8.6 thousand people died. WHO experts have declared the inevitability of the penetration of Ebola into Europe, primarily in Britain and France. However, then a large-scale epidemic in the Old World was avoided. Isolated infections have been reported in Spain and the United States.
