A new Ebola outbreak has struck the Congo, still reeling from an earlier outbreak and an outbreak of Coronavirus and Measles

An aid worker talking about the Coronavirus. CBS News/AP.

A new outbreak of Ebola has struck in the Congo, furthering a health crisis called by an older outbreak of the disease along with Coronavirus and Measles. CBS News. Congo had a major outbreak of the disease that hasn't officially ended, though no new cases have been detected since May. That outbreak killed 2,243 since August of 2018. That outbreak took place in the east of the country but the new outbreak, which has 6 cases and 4 deaths is in the north. 4 more people are being held in isolation. Congo has had trouble dealing with the various outbreaks due to political instability, violence and general distrust of healthcare workers. In addition to the Ebola outbreaks both Coronavirus and Measles are hitting the country hard. 

My Comment:

Fairly notable that Ebola is back in Congo, even though their old outbreak seems to be on the way out. Ebola has been a devastating disease for Africa, and it's sad to see it keep coming back. It also seems like it has more potential to spread than it used to. Earlier outbreaks rarely infected many people but both the East Africa outbreak and the Congo outbreak spread fairly far. 

I doubt Ebola will spread out of the Congo. The country is politically unstable enough that few people visit it or leave from it and Ebola has a much harder time spreading than most other virus, like Coronavirus and the Measles. Though airborne transmission has been demonstrated in a lab, in actuality Ebola usually needs direct contact with infected blood or other bodily fluid to spread. 

However, the problem with Ebola is that it is much more deadly than other diseases. It kills a large proportion of the people it infects and we still don't have a good treatment for it. Most drugs don't do much and all you can really do is treat the symptoms. 

The good news is that there is a vaccine for Ebola and it's fairly safe to use. The main problem is administering it. The Congo is politically unstable and health care workers trying to give it out have been attacked. Plus people don't trust the vaccine or the people that give it out. I do think it was a major blessing in the previous outbreak as it allowed the virus to be contained and limited how much it could spread. 

The bad news is that the Congo can't really handle all of the various health crisis' at once. Indeed, both the Coronavirus and the Measles are bigger threats than Ebola, even if we have a major outbreak from this current Northern infection. Both diseases spread through the air and have little problem infecting people. Indeed, the Measles is one of the most easily spread diseases out there. 

The good news if that Coronavirus mostly affects old people and the demographics of the Congo is mostly young. It won't be a major threat for most people. It's going to be Measles that is the major threat as even though there is a vaccine, a lot of people there won't take it and all the trouble I mentioned for the Ebola vaccine are present as well. 

I do hope that the Ebola outbreak is contained quickly. Though the disease is not much of a threat to westerners it's still a horrible way to go and even if you recover it's not like you are the same person anymore. I hope that the Congo can keep things together enough to quickly fight the disease and stop it from spreading.