Congo Traces Possible Ebola Spread to Two New Provinces

Congolese health authorities are tracing people potentially exposed to Ebola in two provinces not previously affected by the latest outbreak, amid fears the virus could spread further.

The outbreak, declared on 15 May, has so far infected 1,307 people and killed 377 across the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, according to government data released on Monday.

In Tshopo province, health workers are tracing people who may have come into contact with the body of a pregnant woman who died of Ebola in Ituri’s Niania health zone. She fell ill on 18 June and died on 27 June. Before her diagnosis was confirmed, her body was taken by motorcycle about 300 km west to Kisangani in neighboring Tshopo, where a sample taken at a morgue tested positive for the virus.

A health ministry report said the body’s journey through several health zones before the diagnosis was made had created a high risk of transmission. Authorities have launched contact-tracing efforts across the province.

Separately, a senior health official told Reuters that two people identified as contacts of Ebola cases in Niania had left isolation and traveled to Haut-Uele province. One of them tested positive for Ebola, while the second was awaiting confirmation. Both have since been located and are being returned to Niania, while health teams trace anyone they may have encountered in Haut-Uele.

(Reuters, Lud)