PRETORIA, March 12. /TASS/. The number of Ebola cases in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRD) has reach 30, with nearly half of those infected having died, the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Friday.

According to Africa CDC, fourteen out of 30 Ebola patients have died.

Guinea, which reported the first Ebola-related death on January 28, 2020, now reports 18 confirmed cases and nine fatalities. The country’s government officially declared an Ebola outbreak in the southeast of the country on February 14 and launched a WHO-supported inoculation campaign in high risks areas on February 23. Medics have managed to trade 98% of contacts of those infected. As many as 2,636 people have been vaccinated.

Chief of Russia’s sanitary watchdog Anna Popova said earlier that by summer Guinea may become an Ebola epicenter if the situation was not taken under control. "We think it to be a hotspot because, according to our forecasts, if the situation is not changed cardinally, <…> we will have an Ebola epicenter by summer. All possible efforts are now being taken, with our colleague working there, to prevent it," she said, adding that a brigade of the Russian sanitary watchdog specialists has been working in Guinea since August 2014.

An Ebola outbreak began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the North Kivu province, on February 1. Twelve Ebola cases have been confirmed. Five patients have died. The authorities have traced 87% of contacts. A total of 1,329 people have been vaccinated.

Guinea was one of the epicenters of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016. More than 28,000 cases were reported back then, with the death toll of 11,300. The most serious situation back then was reported from Guinea’s neighbors, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever) as "a severe, often fatal illness, with a case fatality rate of up to 90%." 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.