Ebola deaths in eastern Congo rise to 131, WHO voices deep concern

According to reports, 26 additional suspected Ebola deaths occurred in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) within 24 hours, while the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed grave concerns regarding the outbreak.

This has raised the number of deaths linked to the outbreak in eastern DRC to 131. The outbreak in DRC is responsible for 516 suspected cases and 33 confirmed cases, while there are two confirmed cases in neighboring Uganda, according to the daily bulletin issued by the health authorities.

At a news conference in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the declaration on Saturday that the outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern, making him the first WHO director-general to make such a declaration without first meeting an emergency committee.

This outbreak has raised alarm among experts since it is capable of spreading undetected for weeks in a region affected by armed conflict. An outbreak between 2018 and 2020 in eastern DRC was the second most fatal outbreak in history, claiming almost 2,300 lives.

In Butembo, a city of several hundred thousand inhabitants, the first two cases were reported on Monday, according to Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who heads Congo's National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB), speaking to Reuters.

Movement in the Ishasha-Kyeshero border post has been restricted by Ugandan authorities, says Ambrose Amanyire Mwesigye, a government official, to Reuters, adding that the border was not officially closed.