According to the outgoing Minister of Health, the mother of the child is a woman of Congolese origin married to a Ugandan. The couple live in Kasese District, Uganda. This woman had traveled to the DRC last May to take care of her father, who unfortunately died of Ebola on May 27th in Cantine-Aloya, in the health zone of Mabalako in Nord Kivu.

According to the source, on Monday, June 10, 2019, 14 members of this family, including 12 already symptomatic, arrived in Kasindi, a Congolese town bordering Uganda. They were all listed as contacts of the confirmed case who died on May 27 of this year in Mabalako. They were detected by the teams of the National Border Hygiene Program (PNHF) based at Kasindi Health Control Station.

Recognizing the symptoms of Ebola, PNHF teams did not let the family pass and transferred the 12 symptomatic persons to the Transitional Isolation Center at Kasindi Hospital, hile waiting for their transfer to the Ebola Treatment Center of Beni for samples. Among the 12 suspected cases were seven children aged from 7 months to 12 years.

"On the evening of June 10, 2019, six members of this family had left the Kasindi isolation center before crossing the border on foot, through secondary tracks to avoid health checks, the source revealed.

Congolese health authorities immediately notified the Ugandan authorities and provided them with the names and phone numbers of suspected cases. Meanwhile, the source notes, Ugandan health workers have found the child and his family at Kagando Hospital in Uganda. The child and five other members of his family were then transferred and isolated to the Ebola Treatment Center in Bwera where samples were taken. Eight Ugandan contacts have been listed and will benefit from 21 days of follow-up.

The remaining six family members who stayed in Kasindi were transferred to the Beni Ebola Treatment Center on Tuesday, 11 June, and their samples are being analyzed. A cross-border meeting between Congolese and Ugandan health authorities was scheduled for Wednesday, June 12 in Kasese, Uganda, to discuss the possibility of repatriating the family towards DRC to continue treatment in Beni...

(CKS/Yes)