Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo Claims Two More Lives

Two more people have died from an Ebola outbreak in central DR Congo, bringing the tally to 11 dead from the highly contagious but rare disease, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Sunday.

"This Sunday morning, a women with symptoms... of Ebola died," MSF spokesman Francois Dumont told AFP.

Ebola Epidemic Kills Nine in Central DR Congo: Report
A deadly Ebola outbreak in the central Democratic Republic of Congo has killed nine and infected 21, the UN-sponsored radio Okapi quoted the health minister as saying Thursday.

A man also died from Ebola on Thursday, he said.

Health Minister Augustin Mopipi said Thursday that the outbreak had killed nine and infected 21 since it was detected in November.

Named after a small Congo river, the disease was found in the town of Kampungu, near Mueka in the Western Kasai province.

Scientists Find New Killer Virus in South Africa
A viral haemorrhagic fever that killed four people in Johannesburg has been identified as a new strain of the deadly arenavirus, health officials said Thursday.

Ebola is deadly in about 50-90 percent of cases, with victims hemmorhaging all over and bleeding from body orifices before dying in the most severe instances.

MSF has erected a "small isolation unit of six beds" near Kampungu, with three receiving care there, Dumont said.

Ebola-Reston Virus Isolated In Swine In Philippines
The Ebola-Reston virus has been detected in pigs for the first time in the world, in the Philippines, the UN food agency said Tuesday.

Two others are at home and under observation, with MSF also following the cases of more than 100 people who have had contact with the disease, he said.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been hit by Ebola outbreaks three times before.

Structure of Key Ebola Virus Protein Identified
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) say that they have uncovered the shape of the Ebola virus spike protein, which is necessary for viral entry into human cells.

In 1976 it killed nearly 500 people on both sides of the country's border with Sudan.

It struck again in 1995, killing 245 people in the western province of Bandundu.

Another 26 cases were confirmed in 2007 in Kasai province, after 187 people died from a host of diseases, including Ebola, malaria, typhoid and dysentery.

Source-AFP
SRM