00:00At least 80 people have died in a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern Ituri province,
00:08according to its health ministry.
00:10On Saturday, Health Minister Dr. Samuel Roger Kamba told reporters that authorities had recorded around 246 suspected cases after confirming
00:21a new outbreak involving the Budibungio strain of the virus.
00:26Kamba said the timeline of this new epidemic goes back to the start of this month, when a first alert
00:32through social media came on the 5th of May.
00:35Our teams were deployed and mobilized immediately and confirmed a documented alert on the 8th.
00:40He said the ministry has officially declared Congo's 17th Ebola epidemic.
00:46The government says it has activated its emergency operations center, strengthened surveillance and deployed response teams.
00:53The World Health Organization sent a team to Ituri earlier this month after suspected cases were reported.
01:00Here's WHO Director General Tedros Adhanam Ghebreyesis.
01:05Today I have released 500,000 U.S. dollars from WHO's Contingency Fund for Emergencies to immediately support the response.
01:14That money, he said, would support surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing, clinical care and infection prevention.
01:22The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was convening an urgent meeting with Congo, Uganda, South Sudan
01:29and global partners to reinforce cross-border response efforts.
01:34A Congolese man died in Uganda's capital from the Budibungio strain, the health ministry said.
01:39It's prompted concern among some residents in Kampala.
01:42I am worried in Uganda here when they say that there's someone who came with Ebola in Uganda.
01:50So I meet a person who works from Kampala here with other people.
01:54We are scared.
01:56Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, contaminated materials or people who have died from the disease.
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