Ebola in DR Congo

An outbreak of ebola in northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo had killed at least 27 people as of press time, out of 58 suspected cases.

On May 21, two patients in the city of Mbandaka who were showing symptoms of the disease, including hemorrhaging, were illegally removed from quarantine by their families and taken to a religious gathering, potentially exposing at least 50 other people to the disease. Both patients later died, one at home and the other back in quarantine.

An ebola vaccine is being administered in DRC, the first time the experimental vaccine has been used during an outbreak. However, only about 9,000 doses were available at the onset of the outbreak.