11th outbreak: Ebola cases in DR Congo rise to 60

YAOUNDE, Cameroon

At least 60 Ebola virus cases have been recorded in the latest outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Monday.

So far there are 60 cases (56 confirmed, 4 probable), 24 deaths and 17 recoveries from the 11th Ebola virus outbreak in Mbandaka, Equateur province, WHO African Region tweeted.

The WHO office in the Central African country said that a total of 12,959 people have been vaccinated since the start of the drive in early June.

The most affected areas in the northwestern province are Bikoro, Bolomba, Iboko, Mbandaka, and Wangata.
Last week, expressing concern, the UN health agency said it deployed over 70 experts in DR Congo to support it in the fight against the virus.
The WHO and the DR Congo government had declared the country free from the 10th outbreak on May 14.

Starting in North Kivu on Aug. 1, 2018, the epidemic was the second largest outbreak in the world, and particularly challenging as it took place in an active conflict zone. There were 3,470 cases, 2,287 deaths and 1,171 survivors, according to the WHO.

Ebola, a tropical fever that first appeared in 1976 in Sudan and the DRC, is transmitted to humans from wild animals.

It can also spread through contact with body fluids of infected people, or of those who have died from the virus.

Ebola caused global alarm in 2014 when the world's worst outbreak began in West Africa, killing more than 11,300 people, and infecting an estimated 28,600 as it swept through Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.