First your fever spikes, your joints hurt, and your head aches. It feels like the worst flu you’ve ever had. Then it gets worse: You double over with stomach pains, vomiting, and diarrhea. For about 60 percent of victims, these symptoms lead to organ failure and, ultimately, death.
This virus is called Ebola, and there’s been an outbreak of it in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since August 2018. As of press time, more than 2,700 people had become sick and 1,800 had died in this central African country. In July, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency after the first cases were reported in Goma. This city has a population of about 1 million, which could help spread the disease faster.
First you have a fever, your joints hurt, and your head aches. It feels like the worst flu you’ve ever had. Then it gets worse: You double over with stomach pains, vomiting, and diarrhea. For about 60 percent of victims, these symptoms lead to organ failure and, ultimately, death.
This disease is a virus called Ebola. An outbreak of Ebola has been spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since August 2018. As of press time, more than 2,700 people had become sick in the central African country. Of those,1,800 had died. In July, the first cases were reported in the city of Goma. The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency. One reason they did that is because about 1 million people live in Goma. The dense population could help spread the disease faster than before.