Ebola, HIV, Measles And Violence in DRC: Lessons for KP-led Organizations

DRC Woes: Ebola, Measles and Violence

The Ebola outbreak has spread to a third province in the DRC.

A story by Tim Cooks of the Global Health Network (GHN)

2 new cases, including 1 death, were recorded in South Kivu, more than 700 kilometers south of the outbreak’s source, according to Reuters.

A 24-year-old woman died on Thursday after visiting Beni in North Kivu, STAT reports via AP. Her 7-month-old child is being treated. The woman had been vaccinated after being identified last month as a “high-risk contact” of someone infected with Ebola, Reuters reports.

There have been more than 2,800 cases recorded since the outbreak began more than a year ago, according to a report in the H5N1 blog.

Adding to DRC’s woes:

• Measles has infected more than 145,000 people and killed more than 2,700, Médecins Sans Frontières reports today. The organization warns of “an alarming lack of a response” to the country’s worst measles epidemic in nearly a decade. 
• Armed groups have killed 1,900 people and kidnapped more than 3,300 others in North and South Kivu over the past 2 years, according to a report by Human Rights Watch and New York University released last week.

Ed. Note: For up-to-the-minute Twitter updates on Ebola in the DRC, follow STAT's Helen Branswell, Nature's Amy Maxmen, and Crawford Kilian's H5N1 blog.