More Ebola cases in DRC, including Butembo

Today the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC’s) Ebola technical committee (CMRE) confirmed that the virus had returned to Butembo, just 10 days after the former hot spot was cleared of the disease.

In a report detailing six new cases confirmed yesterday, the CMRE said four of the cases were from Mandima, and both Butembo and Kalunguta reported a single case. Three deaths were also recorded yesterday, including a community death in Mandima.

As of yesterday, the CMRE said officials had vaccinated 241,946 people with Merck’s Ebola vaccine.

Earlier this month, DRC officials tweeted that the last remaining patients at an Ebola treatment center in Butembo had been discharged, a sign the virus was on the retreat from that area of North Kivu province.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) online Ebola dashboard, 4 more cases were confirmed today, bringing the outbreak total to 3,260, including 2,177 deaths. A total of 486 suspected cases are still under investigation, and 117 cases remain categorized as probable.