New Ebola Outbreak in West Congo Kills Four, Minister Says
New Ebola Outbreak in West Congo Kills Four, Minister Says
A new outbreak of Ebola in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo killed four people, according to Health Minister Eteni Longondo.
The infections were identified in the western city of Mbandaka in Equateur province, Longondo said in a text message Monday. “There are already four deaths and four suspected cases” who are still alive, he said.
Equateur province last experienced an Ebola outbreak in 2018, with 54 cases and 33 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Congo is still struggling to extinguish the second-largest Ebola epidemic in history in the eastern part of the country, where more than 2,260 people have died despite the use of two new vaccines.
The country is also fighting a rising number of cases of Covid-19, with 3,195 known infections and 72 deaths through May 31, according to the agency handling the coronavirus response. No Covid-19 cases have been found in Equateur province so far.
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