Disease eruptions kill thousands in DRC

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Mosquito

from JEAN KASSONGO in Kinshasa, DRC
DRC Bureau
KINSHASA, (CAJ News) – MORE than 8 900 people have died following multiple disease outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this year.

These deaths do not include those from the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) provided the figures amid the DRC’S high infectious disease burden and its susceptibility to recurrent epidemics that require emergency support and create additional humanitarian needs.

On Monday, authorities declared the resurgence of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Beni in North Kivu province.

The patient has died.

Genome sequencing has confirmed that the case represents a flare-up of the previous EVD outbreak in the area in 2018-2020.

In total, there have been five EVD cases, all which have resulted in death, in the DRC so far in 2022.

Other diseases are wreaking havoc, with figures representing fatalities from January 1 to August this year.

The most fatal is malaria, with over 7 000 deaths from more than 11,7 million cases.

Measles has left 1 183 people dead from 89 537 suspected cases.

No less than 520 people have died from over 1,15 million suspected cases of typhoid fever.

ECHO also reported 122 deaths from cholera, 109 fatalities from monkeypox, 15 deaths from yellow fever and nine fatalities from bubonic plague.

DRC has recorded 1 396 deaths from 92 588 COVID-19 cases since 2020.

Rebel groups terrorizing mostly the eastern parts of the country renders intervention by health workers risky.

– CAJ News

 

 

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