The Ebola epidemic continues to spread in the DRC: 7 thousand 200 cases, 3 thousand 475 deaths

Polain made evaluations at the weekly press conference of the United Nations (UN) Geneva Office.

Pointing out that the Ebola epidemic in the DRC continues to be intense and geographically widespread, Polain said:

"In just 4 months since the outbreak was declared, and as of September 12, 7,200 cases and 3,475 deaths were reported in 62 health regions in 7 states covering a wide geographical area in the country. Although response efforts are carried out on an unprecedented scale, the epidemic continues to spread.

'300 NEW CONFIRMED CASES'

Polain pointed out that the epidemiological situation does not follow a homogeneous course across the affected regions.

Although there are early signs of a decrease in transmission in some health areas in Ituri province, Polain said that about 300 new confirmed cases and around 160 confirmed deaths were recorded here last week, which corresponds to 48 percent of the cases reported nationwide.

Polain said, "While the rate of cases originating from Ituri has decreased over time, more cases are being detected in North Kivu province. In North Kivu, weekly case numbers have almost doubled over the past two weeks, from about 100 to more than 200 per week. "Currently, about 45 percent of the total cases are reported from this province, especially Beni as well as the Butembo-Katwa region and surrounding areas," he said.

Pointing out that the situation in other provinces is relatively stable, Polain shared the information that no new confirmed cases have been detected in South Kivu since the end of May.

Polain said that they supported the DRC government at all stages of the response process, including disease monitoring, increasing bed capacity, clinical management, logistics and infection prevention, and that they will also support the fight against the epidemic in the coming period.

IT CAUSED THE DEATH OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE

The Ebola virus, which causes a type of hemorrhagic fever, first appeared in 1976 with simultaneous epidemics in the town of Nzara in Sudan and the village of Yambuku in the DRC.

Since the epidemic in the DRC started in the village near the Ebola River, the disease was named after this river.

The Ebola virus spread in West Africa in December 2013. In the epidemic seen in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone between 2014 and 2017, 30 thousand people were infected with the virus and more than 11 thousand of the patients died.

An epidemic was declared in the country on May 15, following 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths announced in Ituri province in the east of the DRC.

According to health officials, there is no approved treatment or vaccine for the "Bundibugyo" strain of Ebola that broke out in May.