The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that 80 percent of new Ebola cases in eastern Congo stem from unknown transmission chains. After returning from Bunia, a town in Ituri province that has been heavily affected by the outbreak, the director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, Chikwe Ihekweazu, said the most concerning issue is that many newly reported deaths are occurring within communities, with individuals dying without reaching health centers or receiving treatment.
He noted that, at present, 80 percent of new Ebola infections are not on their lists of known contacts or previously identified cases.
According to Congolese authorities, as of Monday, 1,926 people had been infected with the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, with 702 deaths recorded across three of the country’s provinces.
