Ebola outbreak spreading to new patients who have no known links to existing carriers of disease
BUNIA, Democratic Republic of the Congo — Four out of every five new Ebola cases in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo have no known link to existing patients, a senior World Health Organization official said, warning that the true scale of the outbreak could be two to four times larger than official data suggest.The figures underscore the challenges facing health workers as they battle to contain the outbreak in the country’s northeast, which has so far infected 1,792 people and killed 625, according to government data released on Thursday.“Eighty percent of the… new patients confirmed are coming outside of known contact lists” in the heart of the outbreak in Bunia, Ituri province, WHO Emergencies Director Chikwe Ihekweazu told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday.In areas with fewer cases, like North Kivu province, almost all new cases are coming from the contact lists, he added, a sign of some progress.WHO estimates based on modeling and test positivity rates suggest the outbreak, which was declared in mid-May, may be between two and four times larger than the number of confirmed cases, he said.About 90% of all reported cases remain concentrated in Ituri province, particularly in the health zones of Bunia, Rwampara, Mongbwalu and Nyakunde, where transmission remains intense.But the virus has also spread beyond the epicenter to North Kivu province, South Kivu province and, more recently, Tshopo province.In Bunia, Ituri’s capital and a city of one million, roughly one in two patients tested for Ebola turns out to be positive, a sign of intense, ongoing community transmission, Ihekweazu said.Preliminary evidence suggests the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus may cause milder symptoms than other types, reducing risk perceptions among affected communities and leading some families to care for sick relatives at home before seeking treatment.Follow The Post’s coverage on the latest Ebola outbre...