A new case of Ebola was on Friday morning confirmed in the northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), bringing the total number of confirmed cases to three, since the 14th Ebola outbreak was declared in the country in late April.
This is according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Congolese Health Ministry confirmed the third case of Ebola in Mbandaka on Thursday (May 4).
The 48-year-old man was a high-risk contact of the first case, WHO Regional Office for Africa tweeted on Thursday.
It added that 444 contact cases had been identified.
The DRC declared its 14th Ebola outbreak on April 23, after the first case was confirmed in Mbandaka, the capital of DRC’s northwestern Province of Equateur, a city on the Congo River.
The first two confirmed cases, who were relatives, died after showing symptoms.
DRC is experiencing its 14th Ebola outbreak since 1976.
The current outbreak is the sixth since 2018, the most frequent in the country’s Ebola history.
Previous outbreaks in Equateur Province were in 2020 and 2018, with 130 and 54 recorded cases, respectively, according to WHO.
In December 2021, DRC declared the end of its 13th Ebola outbreak in which eight cases were confirmed and three probable, including six deaths in the northeastern North Kivu Province.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo today kicked off Ebola vaccination in Mbandaka, the capital city of Equateur Province in the north-west, to halt the spread of the virus following an outbreak which has claimed two lives since 21 April.
Around 200 doses of the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine have been shipped to Mbandaka from the eastern city of Goma. More doses will be delivered progressively in the coming days. The vaccination uses the “ring strategy” where the contacts and the contacts of contacts of confirmed Ebola patient are given the vaccine as well as frontline and health workers.
So far, 233 contacts have been identified and are being monitored. Three vaccination teams are already on the ground and will work to reach all the people at high risk. To date, two cases, both deceased, have been confirmed since the outbreak began. The disease has currently been reported only in Mbandaka health district.