2 Ebola patients die after escaping quarantine in Congo

Two of three Ebola patients who escaped quarantine in the Congo river port city of Mbandaka have died, the head of medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres’ (MSF) mission in the city said on Wednesday.

The third patient was found alive and is currently under observation by MSF and the World Health Organization, Henri Gray said.

On Tuesday, Congo’s health ministry announced six new confirmed Ebola cases and two new suspected cases as vaccinations entered the second day in an effort to contain the deadly virus in a city of more than one million.

0:40 Aid agencies struggling to combat latest outbreak of the Ebola Virus in Congo

• Aid agencies struggling to combat latest outbreak of the Ebola Virus in Congo
• World Health Organization say Ebola vaccines being sent to Congo to battle outbreak
• Congo Ebola outbreak not yet an international emergency: WHO
• DR Congo faces Ebola outbreak
• UN deploys doctors after Ebola cases reported in Congo’s northwest

Previous Video

Next Video

There are now 28 confirmed Ebola cases in the country —, 21 probable ones and two suspected, the health ministry said.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

Sign up for weekly health newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The vaccine, provided by U.S. company Merck, is still in the test stages but it was effective toward the end of the Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,300 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia from 2014 to 2016.

A major challenge will be keeping the vaccines cold in this vast, impoverished, tropical country where infrastructure is poor.

— With files from the Associated Press