Ebola kills third baby at Congo orphanage: ‘She had her whole life ahead of her’
A six-month-old girl, Vanisa Anifa, has been buried in eastern Congo, after becoming the third child from a local orphanage to die from Ebola this week. Alex Lock, a communications officer at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, asked people to resist feeling indif
By Justin Kabumba
A six-month-old girl, Vanisa Anifa, has been buried in eastern Congo, after becoming the third child from a local orphanage to die from Ebola this week.
Alex Lock, a communications officer at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, asked people to resist feeling indifferent, saying: “She was a baby. She had her whole life ahead of her.”
The current outbreak, centred in the Ituri region, has recorded 894 confirmed cases and over 200 deaths, making it three times worse than Uganda's 2000 outbreak.
Containment efforts have been severely hampered by clashes between residents and healthcare workers, often stemming from disrupted burial customs and a militarised response.
The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no approved treatment or vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire virus.