After the second Ebola outbreak in 18 months, poor rural Congolese must change their practices. The fight for basic survival will hinder making these changes.
Ebola outbreak “under control”
An epidemic of the haemorrhagic Ebola fever reported in Mweka and Luebo health zones in the southern province of Kasai Occidental is over, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) health ministry said.
Some 32 cases, including 15 deaths, had been reported since 15 December, ministry spokesman Augustin Mopipi Mukulumania said on 16 February.Mathieu Kamwa, WHO representative in DRC, said no cases of the disease had been reported in the past 42 days. The last infected person died on 1 January and the period since then is more than double the maximum incubation period for Ebola.
He called for the sensitisation of local communities about the disease. "The local populations must change certain practices," he told IRIN, citing the collection of carcasses of dead animals, poor hygiene and the consumption of monkey meat.
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