Congo, May 2 (UNI) The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it is stepping up emergency response efforts in connection with an anthrax outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In April, Radio Okapi reported that several dozen hippos had died in a few days from anthrax in a national park in eastern DRC.
“Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with support from World Health Organization (WHO), are intensifying emergency response efforts to control an outbreak of anthrax in which 16 suspected and one confirmed human cases have been reported in North Kivu Province in the east of the country,” the organization said in a statement on Thursday.
WHO is conducting an assessment to determine the risk of further spread of the infection and is supporting health authorities in strengthening their response, including disease surveillance and investigation to identify the source of the outbreak and chains of transmission, as well as the provision of medicines and treatment, the statement added.
