The countries of Brazil and Italy have both officially ruled out Ebola in suspected cases. The bad news is that cases continue to rise as the virus spreads across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).
Uganda Closes Borders To DRC As Suspected Ebola Cases Are Now Over 1000
There are now more than 1,100 cases of the Bundibugyo strain of the virus suspected in what has quickly become the third-largest Ebola outbreak since the virus was discovered half a century ago. More than 350 deaths are suspected.
“Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration,” Doctors Without Borders said, calling for more testing and medics on the ground.
“With only 20% of contacts currently being traced, health authorities are struggling to identify and isolate new chains of transmission,” the International Rescue Committee, a global humanitarian organization, warned Monday in a statement.
World Health Organization (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that people could live “Even without vaccines or specific therapeutics, people can survive Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus if they receive timely healthcare and seek treatment as soon as symptoms appear,” he said Monday on X.
No cases have been confirmed outside of Congo and neighboring Uganda. Ebola tests came back negative on Sunday and Monday for two patients in Brazil — one in Rio de Janeiro and the other in São Paulo — who doctors had suspected might have Ebola. -NBC News
Brazil Is Monitoring 2 Patients For Ebola
In Italy, protocols and procedures for a suspected case of Ebola were triggered in Sardinia’s capital, Cagliari, in response to a suspected case. A man who had flown back from Congo on Saturday presented some symptoms. But the Health Ministry said Monday that the patient had tested negative.
Neither Brazil nor Italy has suspected cases at the time of this writing. All have been tested and are negative.
However, health authorities all over the world are concerned about a larger spread as this one seems out of control and impossible to contain.