Worldfocus

A hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has put neighboring countries on alert.

At least 12 have died so far in the country’s fourth Ebola outbreak since 1976. The highly infectious disease, for which there is no known cure, kills approximately 80 percent of those infected.

Angola has closed parts of its border with the Congo in an effort to prevent the spread of the disease, and Ugandan immigration officials have been asked to closely monitor people crossing the border.

Uganda experienced an outbreak of Ebola last year. During that period, bloggers and doctors Scott and Jennifer Myhre in Bundibugyo wrote about losing a friend, Dr. Jonah Kule, to Ebola, and about hospital protocol with possibly-infected patients.

The “Ebola in DRC” blog, written by members of Doctors Without Borders, provided a firsthand account of an Ebola outbreak in Congo last year, including efforts to disinfect villages and contain the disease by contacting families of victims.

Blogger “Woody,” a humanitarian worker in Congo, discusses the current outbreak, writing that even more Congolese die as a result of extreme poverty and lack of basic healthcare.

American blogger “Thomas” writes that the outbreak would not have occurred had the international community acted to end the conflict in Congo long ago.

Blogger “Greg Laden” writes about recent scientific discoveries that he hopes could lead to the development of a treatment for Ebola.

View an interactive map of disease hotspots in DR Congo and elsewhere in Africa here.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user cyclopsr under a Creative Commons license.