Health workers prepare to vaccinate people for Ebola suspicion 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 on Monday warned of a possible resurgence 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 an epicenter of an earlier Ebola outbreak declared in June, according to the DRC’s 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 at a news conference from Geneva headquarters on Monday.
“No other cases have been identified so far,” said Tedros. “But it is possible that there will be even more cases because the woman has been in contact with many people after she became symptomatic.”
Unlike the highly contagious coronavirus, which can be spread by people who don’t have symptoms, Ebola is believed to spread mainly through people who are already visibly ill. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus spreads through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of people who are sick or have died from the disease.
The virus can also spread through the semen of men who have recovered from the disease, the CDC says. The woman who recently died in Butembo was married to an Ebola survivor, WHO said.
Ebola has an average death rate of 50%, although it can vary by outbreak, according to WHO.
The DRC’s National Institute for Biomedical Research is conducting samples of the virus at its main laboratory in Kinshasa, the country’s capital, to determine whether the woman’s recent death was linked to the earlier Butembo outbreak, WHO said.
The Ebola outbreak declared in June lasted almost two years. It was the second largest in the world and by the time it ended, there had been a total of 3,481 cases and 2,299 deaths, according to WHO.
The WHO noted that response to outbreaks in North Kivu province has been particularly difficult due to ongoing violent conflict in the area, which Human Rights Watch says is occupied by more than 100 different armed groups.
The WHO has sent a rapid response team to Butembo, Tedros added, and vaccine doses are on the way. The WHO says there are currently two approved Ebola vaccines. Tedros didn’t say what’s on the way to the area.
“Thanks to the enormous capacity built during the latest outbreak, provincial health authorities have significant experience in fighting Ebola and preventing further transmission,” Tedros said Monday. “We hope the vaccination will start as soon as possible.”