PRETORIA, November 2. /TASS/. The Ebola mortality rate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC) has exceeded 50%, according to the National Public Health Institute under the country’s Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare.
The tally of laboratory confirmed Ebola cases has reached 10,414, with 5,372 fatalities. Thus, the death rate stands at 51.6%. Last week, the ministry put the figure at 48.6%.
According to the institute’s experts, the significant increase in the number of registered fatalities is explained by a retrospective data adjustment carried out jointly by the local data processing team and the outbreak response team in Ituri Province, rather than by a sudden spike in mortality in a single day.
The current Ebola outbreak began in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda on May 15 to become the second deadliest one in the entire history of observation in Africa, with Ebola cases being registered in eight Congolese provinces. Ugandan authorities announced on July 28 that the Ebola outbreak in the country had ended. The WHO confirmed this on August 25. However, the first Ebola case was confirmed in Kenya on October 6, and in Nigeria - on October 20.
This outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a vaccine against which is being still developed.
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever) as "a severe, often fatal illness in humans," with the average case fatality rate of around 50%. Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. The infection is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people. People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. The incubation period is 2 to 21 days. During an outbreak, those at higher risk of infection are health workers, family members and others in close contact with sick people and deceased patients.