Dare Babalola
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has declared a new outbreak of Ebola in Kasai Province.
According to Health Minister Roger Kamba during a press conference in Kinshasa on Thursday, 28 suspected cases have been recorded, including 15 deaths.
The outbreak is attributed to the Zaire strain of the virus, and investigations are ongoing.
The index case was a 34-year-old pregnant woman who died on August 25 after being admitted to Bulape General Reference Hospital with symptoms including fever, hemorrhage, and severe fatigue.
The woman was admitted on August 20, and her condition rapidly deteriorated, leading to multiple organ failure.
The DRC last battled Ebola in September 2022, when a single case was confirmed in North Kivu Province. Genetic testing later linked that case to the 2018–2020 outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri, which killed nearly 2,300 people.
Ebola, first identified in the DRC in 1976 near the Ebola River, is a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever that causes symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, and in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.
