Ebola caseload in Congo tops 4,000

Kinshasa, Aug 7 (IANS) The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached 4,053, including 1,850 deaths, according to an update released by the country’s health authorities.

A total of 694 patients remain in isolation or hospital care, while 793 people have recovered.

International medical humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres warned Wednesday that the Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC is “more critical than ever,” spreading at an alarming and unprecedented pace with “no sign of slowing down.”

Meanwhile, the Ebola outbreak in the DRC has killed 330 children and is severely disrupting essential health services in the hardest-hit Ituri Province, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Thursday.

“Although Children represent nearly one in four confirmed cases, they account for almost one in three deaths. Young children under five are particularly affected, with a case fatality rate more than double that of adults,” the organisation noted, Xinhua News Agency reported.

According to UNICEF, the outbreak also caused a sharp decline in childhood immunisation, maternal healthcare and other essential services, as fear of infection and disruptions to health facilities kept families away from care.

“The Ebola outbreak is severely disrupting the entire health system, with inevitable consequences for cases of malaria, diarrhoea, and other treatable illnesses that are the biggest killers of children,” said John Agbor, UNICEF representative in the DRC.

The global medical charity Doctors Without Borders warned Wednesday that the situation in eastern DRC was “more critical than ever,” spreading at an alarming and unprecedented pace with “no sign of slowing down.”

–IANS

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