- Six-month-old girl dies from Ebola, marking the third child death at a Congo orphanage amid a severe outbreak.
- Mourners gathered in Bunia on Friday to bury the infant, who was a victim of the DRC’s Ebola outbreak.
- Ituri region accounts for over 90 percent of reported cases in the current outbreak.
- The current outbreak has resulted in 894 confirmed cases and more than 200 deaths, making it three times worse than a previous outbreak in 2000.
- The more common Zaire virus, for which there is a vaccine, was responsible for most of Congo's past 16 outbreaks of the disease.
- Although the outbreak is concentrated in Ituri, cases have also been recorded in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and have spread across the border to Uganda.
A six-month-old girl was buried in Bunia on Friday, becoming the latest victim of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This tragic event marks the third child death at the Saint Nicolas orphanage run by the Sisters of Mary since the outbreak began.1
The Ituri region, where the orphanage is located, has reported over 90 percent of the confirmed cases. As of now, there are 894 confirmed cases and more than 200 deaths, making this outbreak three times worse than a previous outbreak in Uganda in 2000, according to Africa's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.346
Despite the severity of the current situation, it is still not as deadly as the 2014 outbreak that claimed more than 11,000 lives. The more common Zaire virus, which has a vaccine, has been responsible for most of Congo's past 16 outbreaks. However, the current outbreak has raised alarms as it risks 35,000 suspected potential contacts.5
In addition to the Ituri region, cases have also been reported in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, with the outbreak spreading across the border to Uganda, where 19 confirmed cases and two deaths have been recorded.
“The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has resulted in 894 confirmed cases and over 200 deaths. The Ituri region accounts for more than 90% of reported cases, with the outbreak being three times worse than a previous one in 2000.”
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