Fresh Ebola outbreak in Africa alarms WHO
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is alarmed by the fresh reports of Ebola related deaths and is thus preparing mitigation plans to combat the virus, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said on Sunday.
Ms. Moeti, on her personal Twitter account @MoetiTshidi, was reacting to the report by Guinea’s Ministry of Health on the resurgence of Ebola in the country.
Very concerned by reports of 4 suspected Ebola deaths in Guinea. @WHO is ramping up readiness & response efforts to this potential resurgence of #Ebola in West Africa, a region which suffered so much from Ebola in 2014. pic.twitter.com/9eyMLeZutK
— Dr Matshidiso Moeti (@MoetiTshidi) February 14, 2021
Guinea’s health department had reported that four people died of Ebola in a resurgence of the disease that first emerged almost seven years ago.
“WHO is ramping up readiness and response efforts to this potential resurgence of Ebola in West Africa, a region which suffered so much from Ebola in 2014,’’ Ms. Moeti said.
Similarly, on February 13, the WHO reported that a third Ebola case has been detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
WHO stated that DRC announced that a new case of Ebola had been detected in Katwa, near Butembo, a city in North Kivu Province, where a previous outbreak was declared in June 2020.
A third #Ebola case has been detected in Katwa, near #Butembo #DRC🇨🇩. @WHO is working with partners to quickly provide essential medical supplies to support @MinSanteRDC's response in North Kivu. pic.twitter.com/HgLXbFeHsX
— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) February 13, 2021
“The Butembo branch of the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) confirmed Ebola in samples taken from a patient with Ebola-like symptoms who had sought treatment at a local health center.
“The woman was the wife of an Ebola survivor. She has since died,’’ WHO said.
The health agency said it viewed each fresh emergence of Ebola since 2016 with extreme concern, treating the most recent outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a global health emergency.
