Ebola resurges in DR Congo - new cases, deaths

Four people have died from Ebola in a new outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The resurgence of the disease comes as an added blow as it attempts to also battle the coronavirus pandemic.

The new cases were in western city of Mbandaka, which has a population of about a million people. It is more than 1,000km (about 600 miles) from the centre of the current outbreak in the east of the country.

According to the World Health Organization six cases of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever have been identified in the Equateur province.

Eteni Longondo, Congolese Health Minister confirmed the development and steps to be taken: “This is a province that has already experienced this disease and they already have reflexes about what to do, they have already started the response at the local level yesterday.”

“We are going to send them the vaccine very quickly and also medicines so that they can already start vaccinating our compatriots and treating people who are suffering from this disease,” he added.

The Ebola epidemic in the country’s east has killed over 2200 people since August 2018 – officials had hoped to be able to proclaim the end of the epidemic by June 25.