Health authorities have confirmed a third case of Ebola in the city of Mbandaka, in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday (5).
The 48-year-old is a high-risk contact for the first patient, who died on April 21, the WHO said on Twitter. First responders have identified 444 contacts of the confirmed cases and are monitoring their health, the WHO said.
Health workers started Ebola vaccination last week in Mbandaka, capital of Equateur province.
The city of Mbandaka, a crowded commercial center on the banks of the Congo River, has faced two previous outbreaks – in 2018 and in 2020. It is a locality where people live nearby, with road, sea and air links to the capital Kinshasa.
Congo has faced 13 previous Ebola outbreaks, including one in 2018-2020 in the east that killed nearly 2,300 people, the second highest number on record in the history of hemorrhagic fever.
The latest outbreak, also in the East, infected 11 people between October and December and killed six of them.
Source: CNN Brasil
