Unicef working with DRC authorities over new Ebola case

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Kinshasa, Oct 10 (IANS) The Unicef has announced that it is working with health authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after a new Ebola case was reported in the northeastern part of the country.

DRC's government confirmed late Friday that a three-year-old child died of Ebola on October 6 in Beni, in the northeastern North Kivu province, one of the epicentres of the last Ebola outbreak that ended on May 3, 2021, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Unicef staff are already on the ground to respond to this latest resurgence of Ebola. Additional staff will be travelling to Beni this weekend in support to the first-line response through community mobilization, infection control and decontamination activities," the Agency said in a statement on Saturday.

The Unicef will ship medical equipment, water, sanitation, and infection control supplies to the affected areas.

Three trucks loaded with crucial equipment will depart to Beni on Sunday, carrying 160 cubic metres of vital WASH and nutrition supplies.

Through well-established networks of Community Action Cells (CACs), Unicef will also support communication activities, tracking and tracing efforts to prevent contamination and further infections.

DRC's health authorities confirmed that the three-year-old child died in a health centre in the Butsili Health Area, not far from Beni, where he was admitted with Ebola-like symptoms at the beginning of October.

A GeneXpert test performed in Goma confirmed that the three-year-old boy had Ebola.

Twelve people were infected and six people died over the course of the last Ebola resurgence earlier this year, which lasted nearly three months in the Biena, Katwa, Musienene and Butembo Health Zones of North Kivu province.

--IANS

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