DR Congo Receives First Ervebo Shipment as Ebola Outbreak May Triple | Ukraine news

Health officials are racing to contain a rare Ebola strain as experts warn the outbreak may still be far from its peak.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has received its first shipment of 16,250 doses of the Ervebo vaccine to combat the Ebola outbreak. The cargo arrived on Friday evening at N’djili International Airport in Kinshasa.

The delivery is part of a total of 70,000 doses that the WHO and its partners plan to provide to the DRC. Another, larger shipment of the vaccine is expected to arrive in the country soon.

Bundibugyo Virus Outbreak in the DRC

The current outbreak was caused by a rare strain of the Ebola virus known as Bundibugyo. There are currently no approved vaccines or specific treatments for this particular strain. However, the WHO believes that the Ervebo vaccine, which proved effective during previous Ebola outbreaks, may provide some protection against the Bundibugyo virus as well.

Early detection of the infection is complicated by its symptoms, which may resemble those of other common diseases, including malaria.

Number of Ebola Cases and Deaths

In six affected provinces of the DRC, 5,375 cases have been confirmed. A total of 2,557 people have died from Ebola fever.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the epidemic has not yet reached its peak. The number of infections could triple.

The Bundibugyo virus is spreading at an unprecedented rate and is already approaching the scale of the deadliest Ebola epidemic in West Africa from 2014 to 2016. At that time, the disease claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people.