First measles death recorded in New York in 30 years, raising health concerns

The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo) has resulted in over 5,100 deaths, with approximately 10,500 recorded infection cases, according to updated information from authorities.

The National Institute of Public Health (INSP) released a report indicating that, to date, 5,103 deaths and 10,467 contagions have been documented. This record includes 45 deaths and 53 new cases occurring in the last 24 hours.

With these figures, the mortality rate reached 48.8% in the neighboring country of Angola. The institute also reported that there are currently 980 patients under hospital care or in isolation, while 2,824 individuals have recovered and been discharged.

Additionally, the contact tracing rate is at 86.6%. The epidemic has affected eight distinct provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele, Tshopo, North Ubangi, and South Ubangi. The Ituri province remains the epicenter, concentrating 70.8% of the total contagions.

According to INSP data, 67 out of 178 health zones in these provinces have been impacted. This epidemic in the DRCongo is the deadliest in the country's history, surpassing the records from 2018 to 2020. Projections suggest it may exceed the cases observed between 2014 and 2016 in West Africa, a period when Guinea-Conakry, Liberia, and Sierra Leone recorded 28,616 cases and 11,325 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Recently, cases linked to the situation in the DRCongo have been confirmed in Kenya and Nigeria. Uganda had announced on July 28 that it was free of the virus, after accounting for two deaths and 20 cases.

Authorities reported on Monday that the first death related to measles has occurred in New York in three decades. The child died after contracting the disease.

According to data from county and state health departments, the child died in Lewis County, located in northern New York. New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued a statement expressing deep sorrow over the child's death in Lewis County after contracting measles.

Hochul, a Democrat, linked this death to the healthcare policy of the Trump administration, calling it 'a terrible reminder of what is at stake when Washington deliberately undermines decades of progress in protecting Americans from preventable diseases.'

The United States is currently experiencing its most serious measles outbreak in 35 years. As of October 29, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 4,834 cases across 47 states.

In October, Hochul declared a state of emergency in New York following measles outbreaks in the state itself and neighboring regions. It should be noted that measles was declared eradicated in the US in 2000 thanks to many years of effective vaccination campaigns.

However, in recent years, the disease has once again caused concern amid growing skepticism towards vaccines and increasing distrust of health authorities. Measles causes fever, respiratory symptoms, painful rash, and in severe cases can lead to pneumonia and encephalitis, which can be fatal. This disease claims tens of thousands of lives globally every year.

French health authorities confirmed the fatal outcome for a patient who was infected with the single-stranded RNA Shamond virus, belonging to the genus Orthobunyavirus. This case is the first documented instance of human infection with this virus.

Typically, the Shamond virus is found in cattle. Medical specialists believe that the patient may have been infected through the bite of insects from the genus Culicoides, which belong to the family Culicidae and are carriers of this disease.

Details of this incident were officially posted on the website of the French Ministry of Agriculture.