CNN: Ebola outbreak continues in the Congo as obstacles challenge health care workers
“The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak, which began August 1, is continuing unabated in the new year. The total number of probable patients is now 663, while 407 deaths are likely attributable to the viral illness, the Ministry of Health said Wednesday. … The latest outbreak has a case fatality rate of 60 percent. The current outbreak is the second-deadliest and second-largest in history, topped only by one in West Africa in 2014, when the disease killed more than 11,000 people, according to the World Health Organization…” (Scutti, 1/16).

IRIN: Inside efforts to prevent a regional Ebola crisis in central Africa
“…[The outbreak response] now involves hundreds of Congolese officials and World Health Organization staff, as well as hundreds of local and international aid and health workers. But a lesser-known parallel effort is also underway — within Congo but also in neighboring countries — to ensure that a regional epidemic like the one that claimed more than 11,000 lives in West Africa in 2013-2016 isn’t repeated. Weeks of IRIN reporting, including trips to assess efforts in border areas, revealed some intensive monitoring and tight collaboration, especially between Congo and Uganda, but also a realization from health officials of the extreme difficulty of policing thousands of kilometers of porous frontier in a busy trading area prone to spiraling violence…” (Mahamba/Ismail, 1/16).