WHO Records 48 Cases Of Ebola In Congo, 31 People Died

Illustration of Ebola patient care. (Wikimedia Commons/Daniel Bausch/Division of Viral and Rickettial Diseases/National Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC)

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday stated 48 cases of Ebola had been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 31 people had died.

"It has been two weeks since the Congo government announced an Ebola outbreak. So far, 48 confirmed and probable cases have been reported, and 31 people have died," said Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to reporters via video link from the WHO headquarters in Geneva.

The country's first outbreak in three years was announced in early September.

The dense tropical forest of Congo is a natural reservoir for the Ebola virus, which causes fever, body aches and diarrhea, and can persist in survivors' bodies and reappear years later.

The WHO on Sunday said it had started vaccinating frontline health workers and contact with people infected with the Ebola virus in Kasai Province, Congo, where the outbreak had been declared.

The UN health agency said 400 initial doses of Ervebo's Ebola vaccine from the country's 2,000 doses of stock had been sent to Bulape, which is the epicenter of the outbreak.

Meanwhile, WHO itself has delivered more than 14 tons of essential medical supplies, deployed experts, and established an Ebola treatment center with 16 patients currently being treated, Tedros said.

More than 900 contacts have been registered and are being followed up.

The first two recovered patients were discharged on Tuesday, he added.

Separately, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday issued a health appeal, opening new tabs for public health departments, clinical laboratories, and health workers regarding the Ebola outbreak in Congo.

Currently, no suspected, perhaps, or confirmed cases of the outbreak have been reported in the United States or outside the Congo, the agency said, adding "the risk of spreading to the United States is currently considered low."