Ebola kills two young doctors in 48 hours in DR Congo
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Actualité.cd
Two young Congolese doctors, Safari Samuel and Marie-France Shogogo, died of Ebola on 28 and 29 October in eastern DR Congo, in Ituri and North Kivu. Fifteen other people are reportedly ill at the Lwemba facility, according to several local sources, while Africa CDC director Jean Kaseya called for better protection for health workers.
Two young Congolese doctors died of Ebola within 48 hours in eastern DR Congo: Dr Safari Samuel died on Thursday 29 October in Lwemba, Ituri, and Dr Marie-France Shogogo died on Wednesday 28 October at the Ebola treatment centre in Beni, North Kivu, according to Actualité.cd. Safari Samuel, who had completed his studies two years earlier, worked at a health facility in Lwemba where he is believed to have contracted the disease.
Fifteen other sick people have not yet received care at the hospital where the doctor worked, according to several local sources. Marie-France Shogogo, who graduated three years ago from the University of Goma’s faculty of medicine, was being treated at the Beni treatment centre before her death.
Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), paid tribute to Marie-France Shogogo in a message posted on X. After meeting her during his visit to Beni, he called for frontline health workers to be better protected. A doctor also reported that staff still did not have all the equipment needed to combat Ebola effectively.
The epidemic has killed about 5,000 people out of more than 10,000 infections, according to figures cited by Actualité.cd. The World Food Programme (WFP) announced the release of $214 million to fund food aid in the east of the country for six months, as well as logistics and telecommunications services. The announcement comes after a doctor died while treating patients in Beni and the death toll rose to 4,687 deaths and 9,704 cases.
