WHO Suspects A Fourth Person Died Of Ebola In Congo

Eline Gordts

A fourth person is believed to have died of Ebola in an outbreak of the disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said on Sunday.

The WHO first confirmed the discovery of the new outbreak on May 12, after a 39-year-old man who had died on his way to the hospital in a remote region of Bas-Uele province in late April was confirmed to have suffered from the deadly disease.

Since then, there have been 37 suspected cases, Eugene Kabambi, the WHO’s spokesman in Congo, told Reuters on Sunday. Four of those 37 cases have resulted in death and two have been confirmed as Ebola, another two cases, including the latest death, are considered probable, the spokesman added.

Because Ebola is highly contagious, authorities are now monitoring more than 400 people who came into contact with suspected patients. Just last week, authorities were only tracking about 200 people.

The outbreak is wreaking havoc at the national level but its overall global risk is low, the WHO said in a conference call last week. With few paved roads, the affected area in Bas-Uele is isolated and difficult to access. The 870 miles journey there from the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, takes about three days. “We cannot underestimate the logistic and practical challenges associated with this response in a very remote and insecure part of the country,” Peter Salama, the WHO’s executive director for health emergencies said during the call.

“As of now, we do not know the full extent of the outbreak, and as we deploy teams over the next few weeks, we will begin to understand... exactly what we’re dealing with,” Salama added.

So far, teams of aid workers have accessed the area by helicopters and small aircrafts and have set up a mobile testing laboratory, the Associated Press reported.

While its location has made it difficult for aid workers to reach the area, it has also slowed the spread of the disease over a larger area, Kabambi, the WHO spokesman, told HuffPost.

Congo has suffered through seven other Ebola outbreaks since the discovery of the disease in 1976. However, none were as deadly as the outbreak in West Africa between 2013 and 2016. Frequent regional travel there helped spread the disease throughout Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, ultimately killing more than 11,000 people.

The WHO is working with Congolese authorities to explore the possibility of deploying an experimental vaccine to Bas-Uele. The vaccine was developed following the West Africa outbreak and was successfully tested in Guinea in 2015.

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"When someone living in her compound in Rosanda died from Ebola, Eisha took her children to a farm 10 kilometers (6 miles) away, where they camped for three months until the epidemic was under control in the village," Lyons wrote.
"When someone living in her compound in Rosanda died from Ebola, Eisha took her children to a farm 10 kilometers (6 miles) away, where they camped for three months until the epidemic was under control in the village," Lyons wrote.
This village elder was a leader in the time of the crisis, advocating for people to seek treatment the moment they showed any symptoms of Ebola.
This village elder was a leader in the time of the crisis, advocating for people to seek treatment the moment they showed any symptoms of Ebola.
Elvis B. Mokholo was the only one out of his five siblings to survive from Ebola.
Elvis B. Mokholo was the only one out of his five siblings to survive from Ebola.
This well in Rosanda was donated and installed during the height of the crisis to encourage villagers to was their hands. It was the village's first well.
This well in Rosanda was donated and installed during the height of the crisis to encourage villagers to was their hands. It was the village's first well.
"During the height of the epidemic, people were not allowed to congregate due to the highly contagious nature of the disease," Lyons wrote. "This photo was the first wedding to be held in over seven months in the district of Makeni, Sierra Leone."
"During the height of the epidemic, people were not allowed to congregate due to the highly contagious nature of the disease," Lyons wrote. "This photo was the first wedding to be held in over seven months in the district of Makeni, Sierra Leone."
The Ebola cemetery in the district of Makeni, Sierra Leone, has more than 600 graves.
The Ebola cemetery in the district of Makeni, Sierra Leone, has more than 600 graves.
"Before the crisis, we used to all eat together. Children from neighboring houses would come together to help prepare a large amount of food that we would then eat together as a community. Since the crisis, people are not doing this as much as they used to. There is still a lot of division within our community since the Ebola crisis," Hawa Singbeh, from Gbolakai-Ta, said. "That's why I prepared a large meal for us to eat together, to demonstrate that we can return to our normal customs and eat together again. This is another way we can overcome stigma in our community."
Sister survivors in Rosanda, Sierra Leone.
Sister survivors in Rosanda, Sierra Leone.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.