Link to article: https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/03/health/drc-congo-ebola-intl/index.html
Almost 2,000 cases of Ebola have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as the central African nation struggles with the second largest outbreak of the disease in history.
Health officials in the DRC said Sunday there were 1,994 reported cases of the disease, of which 1,900 have been confirmed as Ebola. So far, 1,245 people are confirmed to have died, with another 94 deaths reported.
The outbreak, which began last August, has proved difficult to bring under control because of community mistrust and violent attacks on health care workers.
Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) said sporadic violence by armed militias, limited health care resources and difficult-to-access locations meant this outbreak was taking place in one of the "most challenging circumstances ever confronted by WHO."
WHO epidemiologist Dr. Richard Mouzoko was killed by armed men in April while working in Butembo, in North Kivu, a province grappling with a long-term conflict and dozens of armed groups.
"Dr. Mouzoko's death moved me profoundly," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement after the attack. "I am also profoundly worried about the situation. Cases are increasing because of violent acts that set us back each time."
The attack took place during a coordination meeting at the hospital where Mouzoko was working.
Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) staff have also been attacked, prompting the group to suspend work in some Ebola-hit areas.
The DR Congo outbreak has affected the northeastern provinces of North Kivu and neighboring Ituri. The two provinces are among the most populous in the country and border Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.
Unlike the 2014 outbreak in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people, there are now vaccines and experimental treatments for Ebola. While it warned against travel to affected areas, the WHO said the outbreak did not constitute a "public health emergency of international concern."
Almost 2,000 cases of Ebola have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as the central African nation struggles with the second largest outbreak of the disease in history.
Health officials in the DRC said Sunday there were 1,994 reported cases of the disease, of which 1,900 have been confirmed as Ebola. So far, 1,245 people are confirmed to have died, with another 94 deaths reported.
The outbreak, which began last August, has proved difficult to bring under control because of community mistrust and violent attacks on health care workers.
Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) said sporadic violence by armed militias, limited health care resources and difficult-to-access locations meant this outbreak was taking place in one of the "most challenging circumstances ever confronted by WHO."
WHO epidemiologist Dr. Richard Mouzoko was killed by armed men in April while working in Butembo, in North Kivu, a province grappling with a long-term conflict and dozens of armed groups.
"Dr. Mouzoko's death moved me profoundly," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement after the attack. "I am also profoundly worried about the situation. Cases are increasing because of violent acts that set us back each time."
The attack took place during a coordination meeting at the hospital where Mouzoko was working.
Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) staff have also been attacked, prompting the group to suspend work in some Ebola-hit areas.
The DR Congo outbreak has affected the northeastern provinces of North Kivu and neighboring Ituri. The two provinces are among the most populous in the country and border Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.
Unlike the 2014 outbreak in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people, there are now vaccines and experimental treatments for Ebola. While it warned against travel to affected areas, the WHO said the outbreak did not constitute a "public health emergency of international concern."