Kinshasa, October 3:
Health officials have reported that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is gradually coming under control in some areas. It is reported that no new infections have been found in various health sectors in the last few weeks. However, the number of deaths due to the infection has exceeded 4,000.
Congo’s Health Minister Roger Kamba informed a press conference held in the capital Kinshasa on Friday that the Ebola outbreak is now concentrated in a few limited health sectors, from being spread throughout the province.
According to the information released on Friday, 8,300 infections have been confirmed so far in the seven provinces, while 4,018 people have lost their lives. Accordingly, the death rate among the infected is 48.4 percent. So far, 2,162 patients have recovered after treatment.
Since the outbreak began, infections have been detected in 63 health sectors in seven provinces. Of these, 12 health sectors have not been found to have new infections for the last 42 days.
Health Minister Kamba said that while the situation of the infection varies from region to region, the number of health facilities where the infection has been detected has been gradually decreasing.
Meanwhile, the international medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said that the actual number of infected and dead could be higher than the official figures. The organization said that some cases may not be included in the official figures due to challenges in monitoring the disease and identifying infected people.
The outbreak, which was declared in May, has become the largest and most serious Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to date. It is the second largest outbreak globally after the Ebola outbreak that spread in West Africa from 2014 to 2016. (RSS/Xinhua)
