By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews
It’s been one year since this current Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak was declared in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and more than 2,600 confirmed cases, including more than 1,800 deaths have been reported in parts of Ituri and North Kivu provinces.
Yesterday, a one-year-old girl became the third patient to test positive for Ebola in the densely-populated DR Congo city of Goma, local officials said. “The third confirmed case is the one-year-old girl of the father of 10 who died today at the Kiziba centre. The girl had already been showing signs of the disease,” an Ebola response official told AFP.
The first two EVD patients in Goma have died.
DRC journalist, Fiston Mahamba tweeted–#RDC / #Rwanda : Following the detection of a third case of #Ebola in the town of #Goma , the Rwandan authorities have just closed the borders between the city of #Gisenyi (@RubavuDistrict) and the one at #Goma . One-way movements allowed until further notice.
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In a statement from WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, and World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley yesterday, they said, “The disease is relentless and devastating.
“Ebola passes from mother to child, husband to wife, patient to caregiver, from the dead body of a victim to the mourning relative. The disease turns the most mundane aspects of everyday life upside down — hurting local businesses, preventing children from going to school and hampering vital and routine health services. It is primarily a health crisis, but one that also critically impacts how people care for their family, view their neighbors and interact with their community.
“The challenges to stopping further transmission are indeed considerable. But none are insurmountable. And none can be an excuse for not getting the job done.”
Two weeks ago, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) was declared.
“This is not a milestone we ever wanted to mark,” Matshidiso Moeti, MBBS, the WHO Regional Director for Africa said during a press conference.
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