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Eastern Congo Ebola Outbreak Reaches 1,003 Cases and 254 Deaths, With 100 Recoveries Reported
The Ministry of Health reported 1,003 cases and 254 deaths as of the latest count, with 100 recoveries. The Bundibugyo virus outbreak, declared May 15 in Ituri province, has spread to neighboring provinces and Uganda.
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The IndependentAudio version
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Confirmed Ebola cases in eastern Congo reached 1,003, including 254 deaths, Congo’s Ministry of Health said Sunday. One hundred people have recovered and 365 remain in hospitals or isolation. The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus for which no vaccines or treatments exist, was declared May 15 in Ituri province.
Contact tracing stands at 55 percent coverage, leaving more than 35,000 individuals untraced. Officials have not identified the index case. Cases have appeared in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and crossed into Uganda, where 19 infections and two deaths have been recorded.
The U.N. Refugee agency reported that at least 2 million displaced people, including more than 320,000 refugees, live in areas at risk. At the Kigonze displacement camp in Bunia, which houses over 20,000 people, camp officials said 10 residents died last week in unusual circumstances.
No Ebola case has been confirmed at the site. Prenatal consultations at one Bunia clinic fell from around 60 expectant mothers a month to 10. The United Nations Population Fund documented extra maternal deaths in Ituri province linked to fear of exposure at health facilities.
"In three cases, we are certain. Either the woman was scared to go to the health facility because of Ebola, or she had symptoms consistent with Ebola," said Noemi Dalmonte, UNFPA’s deputy representative in the DRC.
