With 29 dead, Brazzaville says Ebola outbreak is "stabilizing"

The health ministry of the Republic of Congo reported on Thursday that the current Ebola acute haemorrhagic fever syndrome outbreak in the country's northwestern Cuvette Ouest Department was stabilising, with 29 deaths among 42 registered cases to date. According to Damaze Bozongo, director-general of the health ministry, since 2 December, no further deaths had been registered in either Mbomo or Mbanza, two villages that were among the worst-affected in Cuvette Ouest, 800 km north of the capital, Brazzaville. The World Health Organization (WHO) meanwhile reported that other suspect cases were still under investigation, while 47 people who came into contact with infected individuals were being monitored. It added that surveillance and social mobilisation activities were also continuing. WHO said the current outbreak originated in Mbanza, some 15 km from Mbomo, when a family consumed a dead wild boar they had found in the forest, with the first death occurring on 16 October. On 14 November, the Congolese Ministry of Health, together with WHO, confirmed that the outbreak of acute haemorrhagic fever syndrome in Mbomo District was, in fact, the Ebola virus. On 5 June 2003, the last outbreak of acute haemorrhagic fever syndrome, which was determined to have been the Ebola virus, was declared over by the health ministry. According to WHO, 128 people of 143 confirmed cases died during that epidemic, which ensued following the handling and consumption of dead gorillas. [For more information on the Ebola virus, go to www.cdc.gov]