Health experts from the Democratic Republic of the Congo have confirmed a second Ebola outbreak Monday after four people died from the virus.
The Congolese health ministry has confirmed six new cases of the deadly virus since May 18. So far, it has killed four people in the western province of Equateur, about 600 miles from a continuing outbreak, according to the Telegraph.
“I ask the population to be calm and to continue to respect hygiene measures,” the region’s governor, Bobo Boloko Bolumbu, said on the radio Monday morning. “Regularly wash your hands with soap. Don’t, say, greet with your hands. Don’t touch ill or dead people who had a fever or bleeding.”
Until recently, efforts to quell the Ebola epidemic seemed to be paying off. The World Health Organization was just two days away from declaring the crisis in Congo over when, in April, another cluster of cases was discovered in eastern Congo, the Telegraph reported.
“This outbreak is a reminder that #COVID19 is not the only health threat people face. WHO is continuing to monitor & respond to many health emergencies,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday.
A new #Ebola outbreak detected in western #DRC, near Mbandaka, Équateur province. @MinSanteRDC has identified 6 cases, of which 4 people have died. The country is also in final phase of battling Ebola in eastern DRC, #COVID19 & the world’s largest measles outbreak.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) June 1, 2020
The Ebola epidemic on Congo’s eastern border with Uganda broke out in 2018 and has already killed at least 2,200 people. It is the second-deadliest outbreak of the virus in global history. The new outbreak in the Equateur province appears unrelated to the larger outbreak.
