DR Congo has declared a new Ebola outbreak in Kasai province, with 15 confirmed deaths since late August. Image credit: WHO African Region.
(The Post News) – The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged all travelers to the affected health zones in Congo to avoid contact with ill people during travel and monitor themselves for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) symptoms while in the outbreak area and for 21 days after leaving.
The CDC issued a new health advisory about the latest Ebola outbreak in Congo. However, no suspected, probable, or confirmed EVD cases related to this outbreak have been reported in the United States or outside of Congo. The risk of spread to the United States was considered low at this time.
Travelers who develop symptoms during this time should self-isolate and contact local health authorities or a clinician. EVD, formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates. Thirty-seven confirmed cases and 19 deaths have been reported as of September 18 during this outbreak.
The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals (such as fruit bats, porcupines and non-human primates) and then spreads in the human population through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids. The average Ebola case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.
The first EVD outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests. The 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976. There were more cases and deaths in this outbreak than all others combined. It also spread between countries, starting in Guinea then moving across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia. It is thought that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts.
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