Over 100 dead in Ebola in Congo-Kinshasa

TT

Published 09.17

 

A health worker sprays an ambulance with disinfectant at an Ebola clinic in Mongbwalu, Congo-Kinshasa. Picture from last Friday. Photo: Moses Sawasawa/AP/TT

More than 100 people have died in the latest outbreak of the dreaded hemorrhagic fever Ebola in Congo-Kinshasa, according to the country's authorities.

Of 550 confirmed cases of Ebola, 101 have died and 19 have recovered, according to statistics published late on Monday. However, the undercount is believed to be large and the infection is believed to have spread further than since mid-May, when the first reports of the outbreak came.

Behind the current outbreak is the Bundibugyo virus variant. There are no vaccines or specific treatments for this particular variant, making the situation particularly challenging.

Neighboring Uganda has closed its border with Congo-Kinshasa, and the World Health Organization (WHO) recently launched an effort worth almost five billion kronor to contain the outbreak.