Goma Confirms 1 Ebola Case as Rebel Control Complicates Congo Relief Efforts
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · May 18
Goma Confirms 1 Ebola Case as Rebel Control Complicates Congo Relief Efforts
8 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · May 18
A woman in Goma tested positive for Ebola, marking a confirmed case in the eastern DRC city seized by Rwanda-backed rebels last year.
Jean-Jacques Muyembe of Congo’s INRB said she was almost certainly infected by her husband, who died in Bunia, the capital of the province at the center of the current outbreak.
Goma’s rebel-held status, combined with conflict and decrepit infrastructure, is complicating efforts to contain the virus and deliver relief.
The case raises the risk that an outbreak centered in Bunia could become harder to control if transmission reaches a major city already disrupted by war.
As Ebola hits a rebel-held city, will this health crisis force a truce in Congo's brutal war?
With no vaccine for this rare Ebola strain, how can responders possibly stop its spread in a war zone?