Ebola outbreak in Congo.. 8 more cases of the deadly disease

Sep 25 2007

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) another 8 cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Officials say the total number of cases of the deadly haemorrhagic fever has now reached 17.

The WHO says the cases have been confirmed by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

This latest outbreak in the DRC represents the first major resurgence of Ebola in many years.

The death toll in the region of Kasai Occidental over the past five months has now reached 170 with more than 400 sickened; however authorities say it is unclear if they all died from Ebola as authorities have also reported the presence of Typhoid and Shigella dysentery.

WHO experts say some of the patients had improved after being given antibiotics, which make it unlikely they had Ebola as antibiotics have no impact on Ebola.

Hastily erected mobile laboratories should speed up the diagnosis of cases, at two villages in southern Kasai Occidental province, where the outbreak of the highly contagious disease was confirmed earlier this month; previous test samples were being sent to the United States.

The on-site mobile labs have been loaned by the United States and Canada.

Health workers say a second batch of 42 samples have been to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, eight of which tested positive for Ebola.

Of the 17 known Ebola victims six have died but the death toll from Ebola is expected to rise.

Ebola is fatal in 50 to 90 percent of cases; it is transmitted by contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons.

Initial symptoms include flu-like fever and muscle pain, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea and in some cases bleeding from orifices; death is usually through massive blood loss, and there is no cure or treatment.

The WHO says rapid diagnosis provided by the on-site mobile laboratories means doctors in the affected area will be able to quickly isolate and begin treatment of confirmed cases.

The labs are expected to be up and running within 24 hours and take from two to six hours to confirm a diagnosis.

The WHO says the number of people admitted to health centres and hospitals during the outbreak is slowly dropping.

Teams of international experts are examining hospital records and contacting family members in an effort to understand what caused the multiple outbreaks of the disease.

The WHO and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) have sent teams of doctors, nurses, epidemiologists and Ebola experts to the region along with tonnes of medical supplies.

Radio and television campaigns are warning people how to avoid the transmission of Ebola, which can occur at burial ceremonies where mourners have direct contact with corpses.

The DRC's last major Ebola outbreak struck in Kikwit in 1995, killing 245 people; Kikwit is about 300km from the site of the current outbreak.

The WHO says more than 1 000 people have died from Ebola since the virus was first identified in 1976 in Sudan and the DRC; experts believe Primates which are hunted for food may carry the virus.