Ebola detection elicits NEW Concerns; WHO gives risk rating  

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

May 12, 2022 – It’s the news no one wanted to hear, a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The World Health Organization broke the news internationally on April 28^th.

“A case was confirmed from Mbandaka, Equateur province. The onset of symptoms was on April 5. The case subsequently died on 21 April, and a safe and dignified burial was performed. The second case, a family member, was confirmed on 25 April. As of 27 April, 267 contacts have been identified; other measures, including contact tracing, further investigations, decontamination of households and health facilities, are ongoing.” The WHO said.

The Ebola Virus is present in animals in the DRC and testing confirmed that this outbreak was a spillover from the animal kingdom

The WHO says while there is cause for concern because the first case was not isolated early enough and there was a risk of spread,

“The risk at regional and global level is assessed to be moderate and low respectively.”

Still the WHO says it will continue to monitor the outbreak.  There have been no updates on new cases since April 23.