Ebola in DRC: 1,200 vaccine doses sent to Butembo
Medical staff of the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) work in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during their weekly rehearsal at the Bwera General Hospital in Bwera bordering with DRC, western Uganda, on December 12, 2018.
Kinshasa,
Some 1,200 doses of vaccines for the Ebola virus have been sent to the city of Butembo in North Kivu, the DR Congo, where two people have died since a resurgence was reported on Sunday.
In its latest report on the 12th epidemic that was published on Friday, Doctor Nzanzu Syalita Eugène, the provincial minister of health of North Kivu, said cold chain equipment, for storing the vaccines at the recommended temperature, were also sent to Butembo.
Dr Eugene said no other case has been confirmed but that 180 contacts of the first two cases have been listed and 129 followed.
The first death was recorded on February 7 and the second one three days later.
The technical commission of the provincial health ministry says the second victim was a 60-year-old woman who had been in contact with the first case.
The Ebola is often reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The last wave in Equateur province, which was declared defeated in November 2020, killed more than 50 people.
In the province of North Kivu, the last wave was defeated in March 2020 after killing more than 2,000 people.
