Ebola Outbreak in DRC and Uganda Kills Over 200 as Authorities Struggle to Contain Spread
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BUNIA, Congo — Mourners gathered Friday to bury a 6-month-old girl who died from Ebola earlier this week, the third child to die at an orphanage in eastern Congo as authorities have struggled to contain the latest outbreak.
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Associated PressBUNIA, Congo (AP) — Mourners gathered Friday to bury a 6-month-old girl who died from Ebola earlier this week, the third child to die at an orphanage in eastern Congo as authorities have struggled to contain the latest outbreak.
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“It’s a feeling of sadness because we have lost one of our own, a daughter of the church,” said Father Innocent Ndogo.
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Washington Times“It’s a feeling of sadness because we have lost one of our own, a daughter of the church,” said Father Innocent Ndogo.
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The Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC) said on Thursday that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda has now killed over 200 people, and the number of confirmed cases surged by 38 percent in just the past week.
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Associated PressThe outbreak has claimed more than 200 lives out of 894 confirmed cases since May 15, with up to 35,000 contacts, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The number of cases is believed to be higher because the outbreak was confirmed weeks late.
The HillEbola outbreak zone cases up almost 40 percent in a week The Ebola outbreak in Congo that’s spread across parts of Africa has killed more than 200 people in its first month and is considered the worst known outbreak at this stage, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Thursday. Ebola cases have surged 38 percent since last week, spreading across 32…
Washington TimesAlthough the outbreak is concentrated in Ituri, cases have also been recorded in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and have spread across the border to Uganda, where 19 confirmed cases have been reported and two people have died. McMakin contributed from Dakar, Senegal.
PBS NewsHourAnother orphan dies from Ebola as Congo outbreak spreads Ituri, the region at the center of the current outbreak, has reported more than 90% of the cases. The response has been complicated by residents clashing with healthcare professionals over disrupted burials and the response to the outbreak, which has been militarized at times.
BBC NewsOn Friday, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said the Ebola outbreak in eastern DR Congo was still "evolving so fast".
ReutersCongo says 933 Ebola cases confirmed, including 245 deaths - Reuters Congo says 933 Ebola cases confirmed, including 245 deaths Reuters
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With no approved vaccines or treatments, the Bundibugyo strain was not tested for in the early days. This lack of testing is one of the reasons the outbreak has spread to such an extent. The more common Zaire virus, for which there is a vaccine, was responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.
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Washington TimesWith no approved vaccines or treatments, the Bundibugyo strain was not tested for in the early days. This lack of testing is one of the reasons the outbreak has spread to such an extent. The more common Zaire virus, for which there is a vaccine, was responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.
BBC NewsThe surge in cases has been caused by a rare species of Ebola known as Bundibugyo. There is currently no vaccine for this species and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said it could take months for a jab to be ready.
BreitbartAnother major obstacle is the large number of internally displaced persons (IDP) living in the outbreak region. Over two million people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes by relentless jihadist and insurgent violence are at risk of contracting Ebola, according to UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency. Some 320,000 of those people are packed into unsanitary refugee camps, while the rest could spread Ebola to other parts of the DRC and neighboring countries with their movements.
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During a visit to Bunia on Friday, Congolese Health Minister Roger Kamba said that there were now 933 confirmed cases and 245 deaths from the current outbreak. Kamba also stated that all health centers will be free in Ituri and that healthcare workers bonuses will be doubled.
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Washington TimesDuring a visit to Bunia on Friday, Congolese Health Minister Roger Kamba said that there were now 933 confirmed cases and 245 deaths from the current outbreak. Kamba also stated that all health centers will be free in Ituri and that healthcare workers bonuses will be doubled.
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Despite the rapid spread of the current outbreak, it is still not nearly as deadly as a 2014 outbreak of Ebola that killed more than 11,000.
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Washington TimesDespite the rapid spread of the current outbreak, it is still not nearly as deadly as a 2014 outbreak of Ebola that killed more than 11,000.
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“She was a baby. She had her whole life ahead of her. Unfortunately, she was taken by the disease, a disease that, as you know, is transmitted from one person to another,” Lock said.
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Washington Times“She was a baby. She had her whole life ahead of her. Unfortunately, she was taken by the disease, a disease that, as you know, is transmitted from one person to another,” Lock said.
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The body of an Ebola victim is highly infectious and can lead to the virus spreading further when prepared for burial. Ensuring that burials are carried out safely is a key concern for health official trying to tackle the outbreak.
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BreitbartKaseya also worried about contacts with the Ebola victims who have died, noting the importance of quickly and cleanly interring their bodies to minimize contact with healthy people. Some of the extra staffers Mankoula wanted to hire would be assigned to deal with the contagious dead bodies.
3 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Associated Press Africa CDC chief says the continent needs to invest its own funds in Ebola response, vaccine
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02 Breitbart Doctors fear the current outbreak will prove to be much larger than the confirmed case totals, because epidemiologists are not certain exactly when it began, and they are struggling to perform contract tracing on the large number of people who came into contact with known Ebola victims.
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03 BBC News A six-year-old Ebola patient, who Congolese authorities were searching for after armed men stormed the hospital where she was being treated, has been found and is "doing well", a local health official has told the BBC.
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- breitbart
- bbc
- washtimes
- ap
- thehill
- reuters
- pbs