Ebola vaccinations begin Monday in 2 Congo areas

KINSHASA, Congo — Ebola vaccinations will begin Monday in the two rural areas of this country where the latest deadly outbreak was declared this month, the health ministry said Saturday as the number of confirmed Ebola cases rose to 35, including 10 deaths.

A vaccination campaign is already underway in Mbandaka, the city of 1.2 million on the Congo

River where four Ebola cases have been confirmed. About 100 health workers have been vacci- nated there as front-line workers face high risk from the virus, which is spread via contact with the bodily fluids of those infected, including the dead.

In addition to the confirmed Ebola cases, there are also 13 probable cases and six suspected ones, the health ministry said.

The World Health Organization’s emergencies chief has said the next few weeks are crucial in determining whether the outbreak can be brought under control. Complicating factors include its spread to a major city, the fact that health workers have been infected and the existence of three or four “separate epicenters” that make finding and monitoring contacts of infected people more difficult.

This is Congo’s ninth Ebola outbreak since 1976, when the hemorrhagic fever was first identified.

There is no specific treatment for Ebola. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding. The virus can be fatal in up to 90 percent of cases, depending on the strain.