Health workers are preparing to inoculate people on suspicion of Ebola to take precautions against the disease in Butembo, Democratic Republic of Congo, on July 27, 2019.
JC Wenga | Anadolu Agency Getty Images
The World Health Organization warned on Monday of a potential recurrence of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a woman died of the disease.
The woman lived in Butembo, a town in North Kivu province and the epicenter of a previous Ebola outbreak that was declared in June, according to the DRC Ministry of Health.
More than 70 people who came into direct contact with the woman while she was contagious have already been identified, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday at a news conference at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva.
“So far, no other cases have been identified,” Tedros said. “But other cases may occur because the woman has had contact with many people after she became symptomatic.”
Unlike the highly infectious coronavirus, which can be spread by asymptomatic people, it is believed that Ebola is spread mainly through people who are already visibly ill. The virus is spread by direct contact with the blood or body fluids of people who are sick or have died from the disease, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The virus can also spread through the semen of men who have recovered from the disease, says the CDC. The woman who recently died in Butembo was married to an Ebola survivor, the WHO said.
Ebola has an average case mortality rate of 50%, although it can vary by focus, according to the WHO.
The DRC’s National Institute for Biomedical Research is sequencing virus samples at the nation’s capital’s main laboratory in Kinshasa to determine whether the woman’s recent death was associated with the previous outbreak of Butembo, the WHO said.
The Ebola outbreak that was declared in June lasted almost two years. It was the second largest in the world and, by the end of the year, there were 3,481 cases in total and 2,299 deaths, according to the WHO.
The WHO noted that efforts to respond to the outbreak in North Kivu province have been particularly difficult due to ongoing violent conflicts in the area, which is occupied by more than 100 different armed groups, according to Human Rights Watch.
The WHO has sent a rapid response team to Butembo, Tedros added, and vaccine doses are on track. The WHO says there are currently two licensed Ebola vaccines. Tedros did not say who is on his way to the area.
“Due to the enormous capacity built during the latest outbreak, provincial health authorities have significant experience in responding to Ebola and preventing further transmission,” Tedros said Monday. “We hope vaccination will begin as soon as possible.”