New Cases of Ebola Reported in DRC Days After World Health Organization Announces End of Outbreak

2018-08-03 2


The World Health Organization (WHO) said that preliminary laboratory results indicated a cluster of cases of the Ebola virus in the North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on Thursday, August 2

On July 24, the WHO reported that the recent outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which resulted in the deaths of 29 people, was over.

“WHO said the new cluster of cases is occurring in an environment which is very different from previous locations as it is an active conflict zone, and added that the major barrier will be safely accessing the affected population,” said Farhan Haq, a deputy spokesperson for the UN, on August 2.

According to the UN, North Kivu is home to over 1 million displaced people. “The province shares borders with Rwanda and Uganda with great deal of cross-border movement due to the trade activities, which could increase the risk of possible spread of the virus,” they said. Credit: United Nations via Storyful