The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reports that confirmed cases of Ebola have now reached 1,307, with 377 fatalities. This update was shared late on Monday, indicating that these cases have primarily occurred in three provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.
Interestingly, the AFP news agency has highlighted that a case has emerged in a fourth province. According to a source at the DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB), this viral haemorrhagic fever has now spread to Haut-Uele, a region that shares borders with South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
This particular case surfaced after an infected individual traveled from Bunia, the capital of Ituri, to Haut-Uele. Sadly, that person has passed away, as confirmed by another health source.
In light of this development, health authorities are working diligently to trace the transmission lines and identify individuals who may have been in contact with the infected person. With Haut-Uele now impacted, the entire northeastern region of the DRC, home to around 15 million residents, faces risk.
The province of Ituri remains at the forefront of this ongoing Ebola outbreak, which is the DRC’s 17th since it began in May. Notably, the virus has frequently been transmitted during funerals, where the bodies of Ebola victims are often handled without protective measures.
For weeks, aid workers have encountered significant challenges in organizing safe burial practices, hampered by local mistrust. Funerals in the DRC can extend over several days, leading family members and friends to have direct contact with the deceased.
Reporting from a treatment center in Rwampara, Ituri province, Al Jazeera’s Catherine Wambua-Soi noted that health workers frequently lack adequate resources. “These centers have been attacked multiple times. Just last month, tents were set on fire by a frustrated mob. There’s still a significant distrust towards those providing aid,” she observed. “They require more protective gear, medicines, rapid test kits, and body bags.”
In response to the crisis, the government announced a ban on public gatherings in four provinces, including the capital, Kinshasa. This decision came just ahead of a planned protest on July 8 against proposed constitutional reforms, prompting some opposition figures to claim that the ban is politically motivated.
