WHO Warns Africa on Return of Ebola Virus

Society » HEALTH | February 16, 2021, Tuesday // 14:18
Bulgaria: WHO Warns Africa on Return of Ebola Virus

The World Health Organization has alerted six countries to watch out for potential Ebola cases after fresh outbreaks in Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Guinea declared a new Ebola outbreak on Sunday in the first resurgence of the disease there since the 2013-2016 outbreak, while the Democratic Republic of Congo reported a resurgence of the virus on Feb. 7.

“We have already alerted the six countries around, including of course Sierra Leone and Liberia, and they are moving very fast to prepare and be ready and to look for any potential infection,” the WHO’s Margaret Harris told a Geneva briefing. She did not specify the other countries.

Harris added that health authorities had identified close to 300 Ebola contacts in the Congo outbreak and around 109 in the Guinea one.

Gene sequencing of Ebola samples from both Congo and Guinea to learn more about origins of new outbreaks and identify the strains was under way, she said.

“We don’t know if this is down to Ebola persisting in the human population or if it’s simply moving again from the animal population but the genetic sequencing that’s ongoing will help with that information,” she said./Reuters

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Health » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: Ebola, African

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria