advertisement

Congo officials say 2nd Ebola case confirmed in city of Goma

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - Officials in Congo on Tuesday said a second Ebola case had been confirmed in Goma, the city of more than 2 million people whose first confirmed case in this yearlong outbreak was reported earlier this month.

There appeared to be no link between the man's case and the previous one in Goma, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, a local Ebola response coordinator, told reporters. He arrived on July 13 from a mining area in northeastern Congo's Ituri province and started showing symptoms on July 22. He is now isolated at an Ebola treatment center. Ebola symptoms can start to occur between two and 21 days from infection, health experts say.

Goma is on Congo's heavily traveled border with Rwanda and has an international airport. For months health officials had feared that an Ebola case would be confirmed there. Days after the first Goma case was announced, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak a rare global emergency.

This has become the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, with more than 1,700 people killed despite the widespread use of an experimental but effective Ebola vaccine. Containing the outbreak faces unprecedented challenges amid attacks by rebel groups and resistance by wary community residents in a region of Congo that had never experienced an Ebola outbreak before.

Muyembe and other officials on Tuesday sought to reassure both Goma residents and neighboring countries that measures were being taken to strengthen surveillance for Ebola at border posts and elsewhere. Neighboring Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan began vaccinating health workers weeks or months ago. WHO says the risk of regional spread remains "very high."

The declaration of a global health emergency - the fifth in history - brought a surge of millions of dollars in new pledges by international donors but some health workers say a new approach is needed to combat misunderstandings in the community. Far too many people in this outbreak are still dying at home, they say.

There is no licensed treatment for Ebola and survival can depend on seeking treatment as quickly as possible. And yet many people in the region don't believe that Ebola is real, health workers have said.

The first confirmed Ebola case in Goma was a 46-year-old preacher who managed to pass through three health checkpoints on the way from Butembo. The city is one of the communities hardest hit by this outbreak, which is second only to the 2014-16 Ebola epidemic in West Africa that left more than 11,300 people dead.

___

Associated Press writer Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro contributed.

___

Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa

In this Sunday, July 14, 2019 photo, burial workers put on protective gear before carrying the remains of Mussa Kathembo, an Islamic scholar who had prayed over those who were sick, and his wife, Asiya, to their final resting place in Beni, Congo. Both died of Ebola. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) The Associated Press
In this Saturday, July 13, 2019 photo, a health worker wearing a protective suit walks out of an isolation cube after visiting a patient at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo. Health experts agree the experimental Ebola vaccine has saved multitudes in Congo. But after nearly a year and some 171,000 doses given, the epidemic shows few signs of waning. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) The Associated Press
In this Sunday, July 14, 2019 photo, Red Cross workers carry the remains of 16-month-old Muhindo Kakinire from the morgue into a truck as health workers disinfect the area in Beni, Congo. The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak an international emergency. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) The Associated Press
In this Sunday, July 14, 2019 photo, workers bury the remains of Mussa Kathembo, an Islamic scholar who had prayed over those who were sick in Beni, Congo. Kathembo himself died of Ebola. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) The Associated Press
In this Tuesday, July 16, 2019 photo, a health workers rests at the end of his shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo. The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak an international emergency. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) The Associated Press
In this Friday, July 12, 2019 photo, rubber gloves and boots used by health workers treating Ebola patients are hung to dry after being disinfected at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo. The World Health Organization says as many as 90 percent of those eligible for vaccination have accepted it, but that figure only includes those who gave contact tracers enough information to be included on a list. The success rate excludes those who distrusted health workers and fled, or those who couldn’t be found in the first place. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) The Associated Press
In this Saturday, July 13, 2019 photo, Congolese journalists broadcast an Ebola awareness program from a local radio station in Beni, Congo. Nearly a year of public health messages have failed to reach some Congolese who fear the Ebola vaccine is just another ploy to kill people in a region wracked by violence for a quarter century. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) The Associated Press
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.