The current outbreak of Ebola is spreading in Democratic Republic of Congo as a Catholic priest has been quarantined after being infected with the virus.
According to health officials in Congo, he was infected in the town of Mbandaka. “We have quarantined a priest from the diocese of Mbandaka-Bikoro who tested positive” for the Ebola virus, a medical source told AFP.
DRC health officials launched a small, targeted vaccination campaign this week to help rein in the latest Ebola outbreak in the country, which so far has claimed 27 lives. Kinshasa announced on May 8 that there had been cases of the notorious haemorrhagic fever in a remote northwestern district called Bikoro.
According to a World Health Organization count, 58 cases have been identified since early April. It was not possible to establish on Thursday whether the priest was among them. Meanwhile, UNICEF said Thursday it was committed to helping schools and children in the fight against the spread of the virus.
