Death is so common in Congo. So, another suspected outbreak of hemorrhagic fever like Ebola or Marburg barely made the news. Nine persons have died which includes a newborn baby, its teenager mother and grandparents. Also, another 92 persons are showing symptoms of the deadly fever.
The outbreak has not been confirmed. Blood and stool samples were sent to testing laboratories in Kinshasa, and in Gabon and South Africa. Immediate symptons include fever, muscle pains, headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea. Later symptons include telltale bleeding.
The outbreak is located in the Mweka Health Zone in the Kasai Occidental Province of central Congo. Mweka is just 20 miles south of Bulape, Congo Helping Hands' base of operations.
This current outbreak is in the same vicinity of confirmed 2007 Ebola Fever outbreak. The 2007 outbreak killed 187 persons and infected another 264 persons. Pictured is medical personnel in Luebo from the September to October 2007 outbreak.
Doctors Without Borders' (MSF) Congo Emergency Team has been deployed to the area to contain the outbreak. The virus is easily passed to others who come in contact with fluids from an infected person. Approximately, 90 percent of the infected die.
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