Ebola cases up to 412 in Congo: 4 updates

The Democratic Republic of Congo has seen more than 400 Ebola cases since the country declared an outbreak in early August, and health officials are still struggling to contain the disease’s spread.

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Here are four things to know:

1. Between Nov. 14-20, the World Health Organization confirmed 36 new Ebola cases, seven of which occurred in newborns or infants under age 2, according to a Nov. 22 WHO update. Five health workers were also among those sickened, bringing the total number of health workers infected to 39.

2. The Congo’s health ministry launched a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of several experimental Ebola treatments.

“While our focus remains on bringing this outbreak to an end, the launch of the randomized control trial in DRC is an important step towards finally finding an Ebola treatment that will save lives,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press release.

3. The risk of Ebola spreading to Congo’s bordering countries is still high. As of Nov. 25, Uganda had vaccinated 1,175 health workers in anticipation of the outbreak potentially spreading across its borders, WHO Uganda said in a Nov. 25 tweet.

4. The WHO reported 412 confirmed and probable Ebola cases, along with 236 confirmed and probable deaths linked to the outbreak, as of Nov. 24.

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