A total of 75 healthcare workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have contracted Ebola since the start of the current outbreak, with 17 deaths recorded among them, a senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official said on Friday.
The toll comes as health authorities say the virus is believed to have been circulating for some time before the outbreak was formally declared on May 15, raising the likelihood that medical staff were treating patients without knowing Ebola was present.
“It is a really high price that the healthcare system is paying, because we don't have enough healthcare workers in DRC,” WHO Emergency Director Marie Roseline Belizaire said during a press conference, according to Reuters.
The development comes as the Ebola outbreak continues to ravage parts of the DRC, with health authorities warning that infections remain widespread across several provinces.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, has now been detected across 33 health zones spanning three eastern provinces: Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
As of Thursday, the number of confirmed Ebola cases in the DRC stood at 896, with 232 recorded deaths since the outbreak began, according to the country’s public health authorities.
A total of 21 new confirmed infections were recorded on Wednesday, along with six additional deaths, with the latest cases reported in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu.
In its daily update, the DRC health ministry said 383 patients were either in isolation or receiving treatment in hospital, while 78 people had recovered, including 11 newly discharged patients after testing negative.
Authorities also reported 151 suspected cases on Wednesday, including 35 deaths under investigation. A total of 6,367 contacts linked to confirmed cases were being monitored across the three provinces, with 4,525 followed up during the reporting period, representing a follow-up rate of just over 71 per cent.
Earlier this week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) raised concern over gaps in contact tracing during the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, warning that a significant number of people exposed to confirmed cases have not yet been followed up.
“If we don't stop the outbreak very soon, it will be worse than what we had in West Africa and eastern DRC,” Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said during a virtual meeting of African heads of state in Burundi.
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