Today, COVID-19 has been wreaking havoc all around the world, severely affecting not just people¡¯s lives, but also businesses and economies.?
We still don¡¯t have a proper medication or vaccine to work against the novel coronavirus and while all this is on, now report has revealed that Ebola cases have started to surface in Africa.?
This was announced by the World Health Organisation. The cases have emerged in the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.?
Yesterday, the authorities identified six cases of Ebola in the Equateur Province, in Northwestern Congo in the city of Mbandanka. Four people out of the six have died due to Ebola.
This is the second wave of Ebola in the nation in less than two years -- 11th since it first emerged in 1976. In case you didn¡¯t know, Ebola is known to cause hemorrhagic fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and can easily spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of someone infected.?
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said in a statement, ¡°This is a reminder that COVID-19 is not the only health threat people face. Although much of our attention is on the pandemic, WHO is continuing to monitor and respond to many other health emergencies.¡±
It is unclear why the cases have started to emerge in Mbandanka, especially at a time when travelling is shut due to the novel coronavirus.
This comes at a time when the nation is already dealing with 3,195 COVID-19 cases as of May 31 with 72 reported deaths.?
However, WHO is all geared up to deal with this, according to Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. She said in a statement, ¡°It¡¯s happening at a challenging time, but WHO has worked over the last two years with health authorities, Africa CDC and other partners to strengthen national capacity to respond to outbreaks.¡±
She added, ¡°To reinforce local leadership, WHO plans to send a team to support scaling up the response. Given the proximity of this new outbreak to busy transport routes and vulnerable neighbouring countries we must act quickly.¡±