Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have reported a new Ebola outbreak in the central Kasai province. Since late August, 15 people have died due to the virus, according to the country’s health minister on Thursday, September 4.
The health minister, Samuel Roger Kamba, said in Kinshasa that this is the 16th Ebola outbreak in the DRC. The first case was a 34-year-old pregnant woman admitted to a hospital on August 20. So far, there have been 28 suspected cases linked to this outbreak.
The previous Ebola outbreak in the country happened three years ago and led to six deaths. The deadliest outbreak occurred from 2018 to 2020, killing nearly 2,300 people. Ebola, discovered in 1976 and thought to come from bats, spreads through direct contact with body fluids and can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.
Authorities have confirmed that the current outbreak is caused by the Zaire strain, which has an available vaccine. Kamba mentioned that even though the vaccine exists, challenges like transportation and logistics in the country might make it hard to reach everyone in need.
The DRC, which is about four times larger than France, faces difficulties in controlling outbreaks due to poor infrastructure and limited communication networks. These factors could slow down efforts to stop the virus from spreading further.
