Share

Ebola kills boy aged 7 in DR Congo's South Kivu

A child has died from Ebola in DR Congo's South Kivu, health authorities said Monday, the second person to succumb to the virus since the epidemic spread to the eastern province.

The announcement last week of the first confirmed cases in South Kivu revived concerns that the highly contagious disease could cross the porous borders of the central African country, where it has claimed more than 1 900 lives since August last year.

"A seven-year-old child died yesterday (Sunday) of Ebola" in South Kivu's Mwenga region, said Claude Bahizire, communication officer of South Kivu's provincial health division.

The first death in South Kivu was a woman in her twenties who evaded movement controls to travel from the North Kivu town of Beni, the epicentre of the outbreak, to South Kivu's capital Bukavu and then Mwenga.

She died on Wednesday, and her seven-month-old son has been diagnosed with the virus and is receiving treatment.

Bahizire said that "two other suspected cases, two women, have been detected and admitted to Bukavu's transit centre".

The two women "were in contact with the woman who died last week while she was staying in Bukavu on the way to Mwenga," he added.

The outbreak of the haemorrhagic virus began in North Kivu on August 1, 2018 and spread to Ituri province.

According to the latest numbers published on Sunday, 1 934 people have since died, while 862 have been cured.

The latest outbreak is the second-deadliest on record after more than 11 000 people were killed in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia between 2014-2016.

Also on Monday, World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on the nine countries that share a border with DR Congo to show solidarity to stop the spread of Ebola.

"We now have an Ebola vaccine that is more than 97% effective and treatments that are more than 90% effective if used early enough," he said in Republic of Congo capital Brazzaville.

GET THE NEWS at your fingertips and download the News24 app for Android here now. Get it for your iPhone here.

KEEP UPDATED on the latest news by subscribing to our FREE newsletter. 

- FOLLOW News24 on Twitter



We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
40% - 232 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
60% - 346 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.97
-0.4%
Rand - Pound
23.97
-0.3%
Rand - Euro
20.52
-0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.35
-0.0%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.4%
Platinum
900.15
+0.4%
Palladium
1,000.00
-0.2%
Gold
2,213.87
+0.9%
Silver
24.75
+0.4%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,237
+0.8%
All Share
74,414
+0.7%
Resource 10
57,122
+2.6%
Industrial 25
103,714
+0.4%
Financial 15
16,494
-0.2%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE