KINSHASA, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to 452, including 82 deaths, according to the latest situation report released by the country's health ministry.
According to the report, health authorities reported 71 new confirmed cases on June 4, including 21 deaths, in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, a sign of rapid and continuing community transmission amid the outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus.
A total of 258 patients are in isolation or hospital care, while eight people have recovered.
Contact tracing remains a major gap, the report said, noting that of 4,766 contacts under follow-up across the three provinces, only 2,755 have been seen, representing an overall follow-up rate of 57.8 percent.
The DRC health authorities listed the main challenges facing the response, including resistance to post-mortem swabbing, insufficient standardized Ebola treatment capacity, weak contact tracing, shortages of essential medicines, inadequate infection-prevention supplies in North Kivu, poor alert reporting and a 21.5-million-U.S.-dollar funding gap.
Uganda has also confirmed three new Ebola cases, bringing the cumulative number of infections to 19, the Ugandan Ministry of Health said on Friday.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization on Friday launched a continental Ebola outbreak preparedness and response plan, aiming to raise 518 million U.S. dollars to support African countries to prepare for, rapidly detect and respond to the outbreak for the period between June and November.
