The number of confirmed cases in Ebola’s deadly outbreak has surpassed 9,000 in relentless community transmission as efforts to contain it falter, data from the Congolese health ministry shows.

Confirmed cases in Congo’s Ebola outbreak have surpassed 9,000 as efforts to contain transmission falter, according to health ministry data released Tuesday.

The ministry reported 9,066 confirmed cases and 4,381 deaths — a death toll equivalent to nearly half the confirmed cases.

The rising death toll has alarmed health workers and authorities, with a large share of recorded deaths occurring outside treatment centers. The latest report said “community transmission remains a concern,” with 88 new confirmed cases recorded.

    • wepsEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      It can be treated, there’s a cure and a vaccine.

      It’s a cultural problem.

      • A1kmm@lemmy.amxl.comEnglish
        2·
        6 hours ago

        The current Congo outbreak is of Bundibugyo Virus(BDBV), a different species of orthoebolavirus that is less treatable than EBOV.

        There are monoclonal antibody treatments not specifically designed for BDBV that offer limited protection against worse outcome for BDBV, but I don’t think the prognosis is great for the people getting affected because the MABs available only offer limited neutralising ability. There is also not yet an effective vaccine for BDBV.

        There are cultural funeral practices that are contributing to the spread of BDBV in Congo (i.e. people demanding that tradition be followed when it is likely to infect them), and inequalities in access to care which I’m sure have some impact.

        However, ultimately there is nothing Africa-specific about the family of viruses (apart from which wildlife they originated in) that mean they couldn’t spread in another country or have similar case-fatality rates there.