An outbreak of the Ebola virus that has killed more than 80 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has spread to a major city, the Hill reports. The epidemic has intensified mainly in villages, but health officials on Wednesday confirmed one death from the virus in Butembo, a trading hub with a large population, which could hinder efforts to stem the outbreak, officials told Reuters.
Peter Salama, the World Health Organization’s deputy director-general of emergency operations, reported the death in Butembo on Twitter, and noted the risk of further spread of the disease.
https://twitter.com/PeteSalama/status/1037347269878661121
As of this week, the WHO has recorded 127 confirmed cases and 87 confirmed or probable deaths in the DRC due to the virus. The DRC’s Ministry of Health first declared the outbreak on August 1st in North Kivu Province, according to the WHO. Since then, 13 health-care workers have been reported to be infected in the outbreak—the country’s 10th since the first-ever case of Ebola was reported there in 1976.
