Kinshasa – A Doctors Without Borders worker battling an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been evacuated to the Netherlands after testing positive for the deadly virus, officials said on Thursday.
The DRC has logged more than 8,000 cases of Ebola, including nearly 4,000 deaths, the worst outbreak ever to hit the vast African country.
The DRC officially declared in mid-May its 17th outbreak of Ebola, a deadly disease that has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.
To date, authorities have recorded 8,067 cases -– including 3,901 deaths and 2,070 recoveries -– since the start of the current crisis, representing a fatality rate of 48.4 percent, according to the latest official data.
On Thursday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said one of its staffers “who was participating in the fight against Ebola” had contracted the virus and was evacuated to the Netherlands for treatment.
“This person is currently being evacuated under the best possible safety conditions,” in “close coordination with the competent health authorities in the DRC and the Netherlands, where the patient will be treated in a designated hospital,” the statement said, without further details.
The current Ebola outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.
Much of the latest epidemic has been concentrated in hard-to-reach areas in the north and east of the vast country, regions long plagued by instability and a litany of armed groups.
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Source: AFP
