CONGO: Ebola epidemic exceeds 1,000 cases

Congo’s Ebola epidemic has now exceeded 1,000 cases, the Health Ministry said on Monday, with a death toll of 629 in the world’s second worst ever outbreak. Health workers have been better prepared than ever for this latest epidemic of the hemorrhagic fever, which causes severe vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding, and kills more than half […]

Congo’s Ebola epidemic has now exceeded 1,000 cases, the Health Ministry said on Monday, with a death toll of 629 in the world’s second worst ever outbreak.

Health workers have been better prepared than ever for this latest epidemic of the hemorrhagic fever, which causes severe vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding, and kills more than half those it infects. New technologies like a trial vaccine, experimental treatments and futuristic cube-shaped mobile units for treating patients have helped curb the spread of the virus.

But public mistrust and rampant insecurity in the parts of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where Ebola has struck have hampered the response, complicating the fight against it.