Congo registers record of 27 new Ebola cases in one day

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo registered a one-day record of 27 new confirmed Ebola cases on Sunday, raising last week’s number of cases to 126, the biggest since the current outbreak was declared last August, the health ministry said.

The previous record was 110 confirmed cases a couple of weeks ago.

The outbreak in the country’s eastern regions is now spreading at its fastest rate, due largely to a spate of attacks by militiamen and others distrustful of the international response.

In the past two months, five Ebola centers have been attacked and a senior World Health Organization official was killed by militiamen 10 days ago.

The assailants have mostly been unidentified but are believed to comprise both local militiamen and community members who oppose the response efforts. Many believe that Ebola is a conspiracy cooked up by the government or foreign countries.

The current outbreak of the virus, which causes severe vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding, is the second largest in history behind the 2013-16 West African epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people.

The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces is believed to have killed at least 891 people and infected over 500 more so far.