France confirms first Ebola case in doctor who had worked in DRC | France

The first case of Ebola was confirmed in France, in a doctor who returned from a humanitarian mission to an outbreak-affected area in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country’s health ministry said.

The patient was transferred to a specialist facility and his condition is stable, the ministry said. expression. “All precautions were taken, including the isolation of the patient upon his arrival in the country, and he was transferred to the hospital under safe conditions to prevent any risk of contamination.”

Authorities are tracking down the contacts of the patient, who will have to isolate at home for 21 days. The risk to the general European public is very low, the ministry said.

The outbreak is concentrated in Ituri province in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where authorities are struggling to contain the spread of the virus.

According to data from the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo, there were 1,048 confirmed cases and 267 deaths as of June 21. latest data112 people recovered. Neighboring Uganda has recorded 20 cases and two deaths.

The World Health Organization declared the epidemic on May 15 and declared a public health emergency of international concern two days later. But experts think the virus has been circulating undetected in the DRC for weeks and that the extent of the outbreak there is likely to be much larger than confirmed cases suggest.

The humanitarian response has been complicated by fighting and aid disruptions in North and South Kivu provinces south of Ituri, where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group operates and where cases of Ebola have also been detected.

The outbreak has the most confirmed cases in the first month of any Ebola outbreak, WHO official Abdirahman Mahamud said on Tuesday.

Mahamud said local resistance to the intervention, which included burning hospitals and treatment centers in the DRC, was waning. “More and more communities are aware of the risk of Ebola and want the tools to support and protect themselves,” he said.

The current strain of the disease is the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no vaccine or approved treatment.

modeling The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that the epidemic could be the largest in history. The previous largest epidemic occurred in West Africa between 2014 and 2016; During this period, more than 28,000 people were infected and more than 11,000 died.

This is the DRC 17. epidemic Ebola virus, which was first detected in the Central African country in 1976. Scientists believe the virus spread to humans from infected African fruit bats and was then passed between humans through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person or someone who died from the disease.

Initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. These may progress to vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, rash, and deterioration in kidney and liver functions.

A US citizen who was treated for Ebola in Germany recovered and was discharged earlier this month after testing negative for the virus on May 30.

The US government wants to build an Ebola quarantine facility for its citizens in Kenya, where no Ebola cases have been recorded. The country’s health minister said on Tuesday that construction of the highly controversial facility would be halted following a high court ruling that officials initially ignored.

Reuters contributed to this report