MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) The number of Ebola cases in the Equateur province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to rise and has already surpassed the toll of the province's previous outbreak, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Regional Office for Africa said on Thursday.
The 11th outbreak of Ebola was declared on June 1, the press release said. In particular, DRC Health Minister Eteni Longondo announced a new Ebola cluster in the city of Mbandaka, the capital of the Equateur province, which is a transport hub on the Congo River with a population of more than one million people.
"The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) Equateur Province continues to grow, causing major concern as the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners face critical funding gaps. Confirmed cases have now surpassed the total number recorded during the province's last outbreak in 2018," the agency said in a press release.
The current outbreak has already spread to six health zones and counts 56 cases. Over the past three weeks alone, 28 new infections have been confirmed. Meanwhile, during the previous outbreak in Mbandaka and its surrounding areas � from May to July 2018 � a total of 54 cases were confirmed.
"The ongoing Ebola response is also facing funding shortfalls. So far WHO has mobilized US$ 1.75 million, which will last only a few more weeks. Additional support is needed to rapidly scale up the efforts by WHO, the DRC health authorities and partners to ensure all the affected communities receive key services including health education and community engagement, vaccination, testing, contact tracing and treatment," the press release added.
At the same time, the WHO noted that significant progress had been made since the outbreak began. In particular, over the past six weeks, more than 12,000 people have been vaccinated. In addition, while it took the province two weeks to start vaccinating locals back in 2018, inoculations started within four days after the declaration of the current outbreak.
