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Ebola Spreads to New Congolese Provinces: Contact Tracing Underway
1 Jul
Summary
- Ebola contact tracing initiated in two new Congolese provinces.
- A pregnant woman's body tested positive for Ebola after transport.
- Two Ebola contacts escaped isolation and fled to another province.
Congolese health officials are actively tracing potential contacts in two provinces, Tshopo and Haut-Uele, previously unaffected by the ongoing Ebola outbreak. This expanded surveillance comes amid concerns that the virus could spread further. The outbreak, declared on May 15, has already resulted in 1,307 infections and 377 deaths across Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.
In Tshopo province, tracing efforts focus on individuals exposed to the body of a pregnant woman who died from Ebola in Ituri's Niania health zone. The woman fell ill on June 18 and passed away on June 27. Her body was transported to Kisangani in Tshopo province, where a sample from the morgue tested positive for the virus. The extensive travel of the body has created a high risk of transmission.
Further complicating the situation, two individuals identified as contacts in Niania and placed in isolation escaped and fled to Haut-Uele province. One of them has tested positive for Ebola, while the other awaits confirmatory results. Both have since been located and are being returned to Niania. Health teams are now working to identify anyone they may have encountered in Haut-Uele, a province bordering South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
