One confirmed case of ebola and another suspected in a large port city on the Congo River has deepened fears of an “explosive increase” in the epidemic that could spread across borders. Mbandaka, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has a population of about 1.2 million and is a hub for trade and travel in the absence of a functioning road network in the region. Peter Salama, from the World Health Organisation, described the confirmation of an urban case, the first in nine ebola outbreaks in the DRC, as “a game changer”. This is a major development in the outbreak. We have urban ebola, which is a very different animal from rural ebola.

Source: The Times May 17, 2018 22:52 UTC