5 things to know about Ebola in the DRC

The Democratic Republic of Congo is experiencing a new outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever.

A total of 42 cases of haemorrhagic fever, including 2 confirmed, 21 probable and 19 suspected, have been reported in Bikoro and Wangata in Equateur Province, according to figures from the Congolese Ministry of Health, harmonized with the World Health Organization (WHO) and medical teams in the field.

More than 700 dead

The Democratic Republic of Congo recorded a total of 799 deaths from Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the last eight outbreaks of the disease.

The assessment is provisional because the figures for the current outbreak are not yet final.

Ebola, name imprinted on a river of the DRC

Ebola is the name of a river of the DR. Congo, located near a village in Yambuku where the Ebola virus was found. The first cases were reported in this village in Congo in 1976 and in Nzara, South Sudan, simultaneously.

Who discovered the virus?

The Ebola virus was co-discovered by two scientists, Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe (DRC) is one of them.

In 1976, he returned to his country after studying medicine.

General Mobutu decides to send him to Yambuku in the north of the country to investigate a mysterious epidemic. The blood samples he takes then identify the new virus called Ebola.

Vaccines expected in the areas concerned

The World Health Organization says it hopes to be able to send an experimental Ebola vaccine this week to deal with the epidemic in the DRC.

But UNICEF insists on respecting hygiene rules as an effective means of fighting the Ebola virus.