The Ebola virus is again terrorizing an African nation. The current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to spread after it first appeared 10 months ago. By mid-May, the number of cases was 1,847 (1759 confirmed and 88 probable). In total, there were 1,223 deaths (1135 confirmed and 88 probable) and 487 people survived.
The deaths in this outbreak are 10% of the total deaths recorded in West Africa in 2014. That outbreak took more than 11,000 lives.
This outbreak has garnered less global attention, partly because of some promising developments, most notably the experimental Ebola vaccine which has been given to more than 100,000 people. In addition, new experimental therapies are being used to treat infected patients.
Some lessons have also been learned since the 2014 outbreak, which exploded in part because of a sluggish global response and the misallocation of funds. This time around, the World Health Organisation (WHO) responded swiftly.
All of this is good news. But the truth is that the current Ebola outbreak is still proving to be one of the most complex, deadly and unforgiving. Read more…
