New Ebola cases suspected in West Africa’s Guinea

New Ebola cases suspected in West Africa’s Guinea

New cases of the Ebola virus are now suspected in the West African nation of Guinea, according to the World Health Organization. “WHO has been informed of two suspected cases of Ebola in Guinea-Conakry,” said WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus late Saturday. “Confirmatory testing underway. WHOAFRO and WHO country office…

Faith leaders work to reduce Ebola-related violence in DR Congo

Religious leaders in the Congolese city of Butembo launched a two-day symposium on Thursday that brings together the groups resistant to the Ebola intervention and its workers, in hopes of reducing violent attacks and improving response outcomes. The meeting follows a visit to Butembo earlier this week by David Gressly,…

Ebola response on hold with at least 9 dead in Butembo fighting

The Ebola response in the city of Butembo, in the eastern North Kivu province of Democratic Republic of Congo, was interrupted by violence again on Wednesday. Congolese media outlets report at least nine people dead following clashes between armed rebel groups and security forces, with some accounts putting the death…

Ebola deaths reach 900 amid DR Congo security crisis

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has reached a new milestone, with the number of fatalities reaching 900, according to the Congolese Ministry of Health on Friday. More than a third of those deaths are in Katwa, where controlling the outbreak has proven difficult and the fatalities rose to…

DR Congo: Good news, bad news on Ebola outbreak

As of Saturday, the number of Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo had risen to 1,240 cases – a troubling jump of more than 100 in one week – with 1,174 of them confirmed and 66 probable. The Congolese Ministry of Health reported 792 deaths, on the rise especially in…

DRC sees uptick in Ebola cases tied to security challenges

There’s been a rise in Ebola cases in Democratic Republic of Congo following weeks of overall decline, and that’s attributed to the volatile climate in the conflict zones of North Kivu and Ituri provinces. “This rise is not unexpected and likely due, in part, to the recently increased security challenges,…

Second attack in a week destroys Ebola treatment center

For the second time in a week, an Ebola treatment facility in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo was attacked  – this time by armed men who overran a center in Butembo jointly operated by the Ministry of Health and Doctors Without Borders (MSF). There were 40 patients in the facility…

DR Congo death toll at 410 as new Ebola cases push south

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has now claimed 410 lives, with the number of cases reported Thursday by the country’s Ministry of Health rising to 668. The new total includes 619 confirmed cases and 49 probable. Another 146 suspected cases are under investigation in what is now the second-largest…

DRC Ebola death toll reaches 385

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has now claimed 385 lives, with the number of cases reported Thursday by the country’s Ministry of Health rising to 630. The new total in what is now the second-largest Ebola outbreak in global history, after the 2014 West African outbreak, includes 582 confirmed…

On a different New Year’s Eve for the DR Congo

Two years ago on New Year’s Eve, the Democratic Republic of Congo finally saw a breakthrough in the political impasse that pitted outgoing President Joseph Kabila against opposition leaders who demanded elections. Kabila, having reached the end of his constitutionally limited second term, agreed to a deal brokered through CENCO,…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times