Ebola im Kongo: Mehr als 4.000 Ebola-Tote im Kongo

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than 4,000 people have died from Ebola, according to government authorities. The health authorities reported 8,300 confirmed Ebola cases and 4,018 deaths from the highly contagious disease since mid-May. Currently, 842 people are being treated or isolated, while 2,162 have recovered. The mortality rate is 48.4%.

Wessam Mankoula, Director of Emergencies at the African Health Agency Africa CDC, emphasized that this is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak they have ever seen. The number of cases is now 4.6 times higher than in the comparable week of the largest Ebola outbreak in West Africa between 2014 and 2016, and the death toll is nearly four times higher.

It is suspected that the outbreak in Congo may have been unrecognized since February. No vaccine or treatment for the current Ebola virus strain has been developed yet. Ebola fever is a life-threatening disease transmitted through bodily contact and exposure to bodily fluids, causing a highly contagious fever with diarrhea and bleeding.

The current outbreak is particularly difficult to contain because there is no specific vaccine or therapy for the Bundibugyo type of Ebola. Moreover, early stages of infection with the Bundibugyo strain may be easily misdiagnosed as malaria, leading to delayed isolation and treatment of patients. Clinical trials began in July to test two antiviral therapy approaches and to determine if the Ervebo Ebola vaccine also protects against the Bundibugyo type.

Ervebo is approved and recommended for outbreaks of the Zaire Ebola virus type. Children are especially vulnerable to Ebola infection, with at least 2,071 children and adolescents under 18 years of age infected since the official declaration of the Ebola outbreak. Of these, 961 died - almost half of them were under five years old.

The mortality rate among children aged zero to four years is 61%, compared to 48% among all confirmed Ebola cases in the current outbreak. Katharina von Schroeder of Save the Children in the DRC stated, "Protecting children is urgent given that nearly half of them die from the disease. We need more support for healthcare and affected families in communities."