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Death Toll from Suspected Ebola in Congo Nears 60
By Christian Tsoumou BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - A suspected outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has killed nearly 60 people in the northwest of Congo Republic, health officials said on Tuesday. Congo's Health Ministry said it had recorded 58 deaths while the World Health Organization (WHO), based in Geneva, Switzerland, said on Tuesday it had logged 59 deaths from 73 suspected cases of the disease, for which there is no known cure.
Ebola, which is passed on by infected body fluids, kills 50% to 90% of its victims through massive internal bleeding, depending on the strain of the disease.
The districts of Kelle and Mbomo, near the border with Gabon, have been particularly affected by the outbreak, thought to have been caused by the consumption of infected monkey meat.
The area is about 440 miles from the capital Brazzaville and the outbreak is the second in little more than a year in the remote northwest of the central African country.
Last Friday, local health officials put the death toll at 51, while the World Health Organization said 50 people had died out of a total of 61 suspected cases.
Official confirmation that the outbreak is indeed Ebola was expected from Geneva soon, although both the authorities and health workers have already been treating it as such.
Congo's government has activated an emergency plan to contain the highly contagious disease. The affected districts have been placed in quarantine, schools and churches are closed and people have been banned from entering or leaving the region.
Officials believe the outbreak was caused by people eating infected bushmeat. Gorillas, chimpanzees, monkeys and antelopes began dying in large numbers in the area late last year.
For many villagers in central Africa's forests, bushmeat is a staple, and official calls to refrain from eating it are often ignored by people who cannot afford any alternative.
Ebola killed at least 73 people in Congo and Gabon in an outbreak from October 2001 to February 2002. That epidemic was also linked to the consumption of infected primates.
The disease was named after a river in Congo's neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo where Ebola was discovered in 1976. The worst outbreak was in that country in 1995 when more than 250 people died.
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Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever in The Republic of the Congo - Who Update 4
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As of Tue 18 Feb 2003, a total of 73 suspected cases and 59 deaths of Ebola hemorrhagic fever has been reported in the districts of Mbomo and Kelle in Cuvette Ouest Region [see: Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Congo Rep. (06)
suspected 20030215.0398].
The Government of the Republic of the Congo has officially declared the epidemic as due to Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Laboratory testing carried out at the Centre International de Recherches Medicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Gabon has confirmed the diagnosis of Ebola virus in clinical samples.
The government has requested the assistance of WHO in controlling the outbreak. A team including epidemiologists and social mobilization experts from WHO and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network have arrived in the Cuvette Ouest Region. Experts in clinical management will be joining them in the area shortly.