78 new cases of Ebola in DRC

78 cases have now been confirmed in the latest Ebola outbreak in the DRC’s eastern North Kivu Province while the United Nations has raised concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in other parts of the country.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the number of cases is expected to rise with 44 people already confirmed dead from the haemorrhagic fever.

The UN’s Stephane Dujarric says WHO says that more cases are expected and it is not clear if all the transmission chains have been identified. This is mainly because some of the zones are off limits to responders due to the security concerns in the DRC.

Treatment centres are however now open both in Mangina and another one in Beni.

Complicating matters further is a dire humanitarian situation in the country in which 13 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

“Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that the humanitarian situation in the country has now deteriorated sharply in recent months. Some 13 million people require humanitarian assistance and protection across the country – an increase of more than 50% from 2017. Around 4.5 million people are internally displaced while food insecurity has reached record levels where 7.7 million people or 11% of the population who are severely food insecure,” says Dujarric.

“The countrywide humanitarian response plan for 2018, which requires $1.67 billion to respond to the needs of over 10 million people, is only 22% funded.”

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