DR Congo confirms 6 Ebola cases

Article via Xinhua :

" The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi told Xinhua on Wednesday that six cases of the Ebola virus that has plagued the province of Ecuador were confirmed by laboratory tests.

"Statistics updated the field: the total number of cases reported since the beginning is 42, and six cases confirmed by laboratory, 13 probable and 23 suspect cases," said Kabange.

"The number of deaths is still 13 which five health workers. Eleven people are in isolation, six new samples were done outside of the Eight already analyzed. 168 contacts are identified and monitored," said the minister.

According to the minutes of a cabinet meeting chaired Tuesday by President Joseph Kabila, "the president also instructed the government to mobilize the budgetary resources and Avail provided against the response to this epidemic."

Congo : Baby dying of rabies infects dad and brother by biting them

Article via Daily News, excerpt :

" A baby dying of rabies infected his dad and brother after biting them, it has emerged.

The youngster contracted the deadly disease during an outbreak which struck 154 other 

people in the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo.

He then spread the virus to his 7-year-old sibling and 27-year-old father after sinking his teeth 

into their flesh.

Both the father and brother recovered after being treated by Doctors Without Borders.

But the baby boy died, along with at least 10 others who were also hit by the outbreak.

Experts said it is extremely rare for the disease to be spread via humans and that people 

normally contract it after being bitten by affected dogs.

13 suspected cases of yellow fever reported in DR Congo's Bandundu province

Via Xinhua :

" Since mid-June, 13 suspected cases of yellow fever have been reported in Kasongo-Lunda territory of Bandundu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), according to the UN agency OCHA.

Out of the 13 cases, one was confirmed as positive by DR Congo's National Institute for Biological Research laboratory, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Other blood samples are still being tested," the statement said, adding that "the cases were spread in six health zones within the province."

OCHA said three of the affected people include children under five and one prisoner."

Cholera kills hundreds in Congo

Via Global Post :

" Cholera outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Republic of Congo have humanitarian agencies scrambling for funds, and neighboring countries on high alert, the U.N. reports.

In a statement last week, the U.N. said the disease has affected nine of DR Congo’s 11 provinces, and the aid response is short on funds. At the beginning of this month, nearly 600 people had died from the disease in DR Congo, and thousands of others were ill.

“Efforts to combat the spread of cholera in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remain underfunded,” reads the U.N. statement. “The lack of access to potable water is the single most important cause of recurring outbreaks of the disease in the country.”

In the Republic of Congo, 340 cases have been reported since last summer, and nine people have died, according to the World Health Organization. But doctors say in the remote countryside, it is hard to accurately assess the real impact of the disease."

Congo-Kinshasa : Alert On As Cholera Hits DRC

Via All Africa :

" A cholera outbreak in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has seen government officials in Kigali locked up in discussions to prevent the disease from spreading to Rwanda.

Officials in the DRC say that up to 1,228 cases of cholera have been registered in North Kivu since January 2012, leading to 11 deaths last week.

North Kivu is close to the Gisenyi border in Rubavu District, Western Province."

Nearly 340 cholera cases in Republic of Congo

Article via WGME, excerpt :

" A health official says the small Republic of Congo has seen nearly 340 cholera cases in recent months.

Dr. Jean Martim Mabiala said Monday on national radio that there have been nine cholera deaths since June in the area of Likouala, some 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of the capital."