WHO sounds alarm over new Ebola case in Congo

A 26-year-old man became the first person to be infected with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since February, UN health officials declared on Friday. Regional health authorities later said the man had died from the virus.

"Unfortunately, this means the government of DRC will not be able to declare an end to the Ebola outbreak on Monday, as hoped," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO).

"But the WHO remains on the ground and committed as ever to working with the government, affected communities and our partners to end the outbreak," he added.

The ongoing epidemic was declared in August 2018 and has since killed 2,200 people. It also prompted a large vaccination effort which saw over 300,000 Congolese residents receive their immunizations.

After not seeing any infections for several weeks, however, authorities were preparing to declare the epidemic over. Commenting on the continuing outbreak, WHO Africa chief Matshidiso Moeti said he was "sad" to hear about the new infection, but pledged that the WHO would continue to work with the Congolese Health Ministry to "end Ebola."

Read more: From bats to pangolins, how do viruses reach us?

Lessons for COVID-19?

Congo's epidemic follows an even deadlier Ebola outbreak which started in West Africa in late 2013 and killed over 11,300 people before it was declared over in March 2016. 

Congo is also hit by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with 215 confirmed cases and 20 deaths according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

On Friday, WHO emergency chief Mike Ryan said that the return of Ebola to Congo offered an insight for the global crisis.

"There is no exit strategy until you're in control of the situation," Ryan said. "You must always be ready to start again — never be surprised."

dj/dr (AP, AFP, Reuters)

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