Three Red Cross volunteers are among the first fatalities of the Ebola outbreak in Congo. According to the International Federation of Aid Organizations, aid workers became infected on March 27 after coming into contact with bodies.
Journalist at HLN
Source: BELGA
“The three are the first known victims of the outbreak,” the federation said. The aid workers were busy with another humanitarian assignment before the Ebola virus was known to be circulating. They died on May 5, 15 and 16.
The first Ebola cases were confirmed in the laboratory on May 15. Experts suspect that the outbreak remained under the radar for weeks.
The Ebola outbreak is said to have started in the northeastern province of Ituri, which borders Uganda and South Sudan. This is the seventeenth Ebola outbreak in Congo since 1976. The variant circulating this time is the Bundibugyo variant, for which there is no vaccine or treatment yet. That makes it difficult to prevent its spread.
