[U: Second Death] Tough News; It Lately Seems To Come In Spring... New Ebola Outbreak In Mbandaka, Equater Province, DRC...

Updated @ 5 PM EDT -- 04.26.2022: Overnight, a second patient has died in Mbandaka, very likely as part of the index group -- according to health teams on the ground. Even so, the virus, in the wild -- now has a perhaps two week head start on the public health "ring vaccine" (of contacts and contacts of contacts) strategy. So in truth we should expect more fatalities. Sad, but a realistic assessment -- end, update.

Originally published April 23, 2022: The last two larger outbreaks in DRC have come in Spring-time. . . and yet, the good news here is that this flare up has been detected in what may be the very early stages -- perhaps even the index case, this time.

And we have a working vaccine, now from NewLink/Merck. . . so, with ring vaccinations on the ground. . . we may see fewer than ten deaths. Let us hope, even though this is decidedly somber news, out of the UN, overnight:

. . .The infected patient was a 31-year-old man who began experiencing symptoms on 5 April and after more than a week of care at home, sought treatment at a local health facility.

On 21 April, he was admitted to an Ebola treatment centre for intensive care but died later that day. Having recognized the symptoms, health workers immediately submitted samples to test for Ebola virus disease, WHO explained.

So far, just one case has been confirmed and investigations to determine the source of the outbreak are ongoing. . . .

I post this in no small part to face down the idiotic vax deniers. This ZEBOV vaccine is essentially the same tech we later applied in the COVID-19 vaccines. . . and it has already saved hundreds of thousands of lives, without any serious question.

Let us hope "the fire -- this time. . ." is indeed, mere embers, or at least. . . a very small one.

नमस्ते