The death toll from Ebola in the Congo has risen to 131 – Reuters

New deaths suspected to be caused by Ebola have been reported in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bringing the total death toll to 131. 

This was reported by the Reuters news agency. Currently, there are 516 suspected and 33 confirmed cases of infection with the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus officially documented in the country, and two more confirmed cases have been detected in neighboring Uganda.

According to official data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one U.S. citizen who worked for a Christian missionary organization also tested positive for Ebola. The infected medical worker and six other U.S. citizens who had direct contact with the patient were promptly evacuated to Germany for treatment and to remain under constant medical supervision.

Experts are expressing serious concern about the scale of the epidemic, as the infection has been spreading unnoticed for several weeks in a densely populated region that is also plagued by ongoing armed conflict. Unlike the much more widespread Zaire strain, there are currently no officially approved vaccines or specific antiviral treatments for the Bundibugyo strain. According to the World Health Organization, the virus spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people or animals, and the average fatality rate is about 50%.

Earlier reports indicated that the 17th Ebola outbreak had been recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has already claimed the lives of 80 people. This time, the disease was likely caused by the little-studied Bundibugyo ebolavirus strain, rather than the more common Zaire ebolavirus.

Ethiopia has recorded its first outbreak of the Marburg virus, which is clinically similar to Ebola. The pathogen is capable of spreading rapidly, but there are no vaccines against it.