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Ebola: Congo’s death toll passes 4,000 with nearly 8,400 cases, and the virus is spreading in North Kivu. Kenya still has no case.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has passed 4,000 deaths. Health ministry figures to 1 October, reported by the specialist newsletter Outbreak News Today, put it at 8,376 confirmed cases and 4,042 deaths, a death rate of 48 per cent, with 76 new cases and 24 deaths in the previous 24 hours. KNN reported last week that cases had passed 8,000.
63 of Congo's 167 health zones, in seven provinces, have recorded cases. Ituri province accounts for about three-quarters of all cases.
Médecins Sans Frontières says North Kivu, which borders Uganda, now accounts for nearly 40 per cent of newly confirmed cases. It is running nine treatment centres with more than 480 beds.
The outbreak is of the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control is tracking US$2.9 billion in donor pledges. "Every dollar must be traceable from the donor's commitment to the services delivered to communities," it said on Saturday.
The United States has told its citizens to avoid Ituri and North Kivu, restricted entry for travellers who were in Congo within 21 days, and added screening for arrivals from Uganda and South Sudan. Uganda's own outbreak was declared over in August.
Kenya
Kenya has no confirmed case. It remains on Africa CDC's list of 10 countries at risk because of travel links with Congo. The Ministry of Health has not issued a new statement since last week. None of the reports in this period mentions Kenya.
What it means for you
The risk to anyone in Kibra remains low. Ebola spreads through contact with the body fluids of a sick person, not through the air.
If you or someone you know has travelled from eastern Congo or western Uganda and develops a fever, vomiting or bleeding within three weeks, go to a health facility and say where you have been. The national emergency line is 719.
Handwashing with soap protects against Ebola and against the cholera that El Niño rains can bring.
Sources: Outbreak News Today (ministry figures to 1 October), Médecins Sans Frontières (North Kivu, treatment centres), Africa CDC (funding tracking), US CDC (travel measures).
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has passed 4,000 deaths. Health ministry figures to 1 October, reported by the specialist newsletter Outbreak News Today, put it at 8,376 confirmed cases and 4,042 deaths, a death rate of 48 per cent, with 76 new cases and 24 deaths in the previous 24 hours. KNN reported last week that cases had passed 8,000.
63 of Congo’s 167 health zones, in seven provinces, have recorded cases. Ituri province accounts for about three-quarters of all cases.
Médecins Sans Frontières says North Kivu, which borders Uganda, now accounts for nearly 40 per cent of newly confirmed cases. It is running nine treatment centres with more than 480 beds.
The outbreak is of the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control is tracking US$2.9 billion in donor pledges. “Every dollar must be traceable from the donor’s commitment to the services delivered to communities,” it said on Saturday.
The United States has told its citizens to avoid Ituri and North Kivu, restricted entry for travellers who were in Congo within 21 days, and added screening for arrivals from Uganda and South Sudan. Uganda’s own outbreak was declared over in August.
Kenya
Kenya has no confirmed case. It remains on Africa CDC’s list of 10 countries at risk because of travel links with Congo. The Ministry of Health has not issued a new statement since last week. None of the reports in this period mentions Kenya.
What it means for you
The risk to anyone in Kibra remains low. Ebola spreads through contact with the body fluids of a sick person, not through the air.
If you or someone you know has travelled from eastern Congo or western Uganda and develops a fever, vomiting or bleeding within three weeks, go to a health facility and say where you have been. The national emergency line is 719.
Handwashing with soap protects against Ebola and against the cholera that El Niño rains can bring.
KNN Newsroom is the staff byline for stories written, rewritten and edited at the Kibra News Network desk. Where a story credits an outside outlet, the original source is linked at the foot of the piece.
