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Ituri Province
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Ituri: 23 cases of bubonic form reported in a health zone of Djugu
April 22, 2025
Rethy (Djugu), April 22, 2025 (ACP).- Twenty-three (23) cases of bubonic plague have been reported in the Rethy health zone located in Djugu territory, Ituri province, northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the ACP learned on Tuesday from a health source.
" In total, we have received 23 cases of bubonic forms, including septicemic and pulmonary forms. The patients present with coughs with blood-tinged sputum, chest pain, breathing difficulties, high fevers with headaches, generalized fatigue, and muscle pain ," said Dr. Jean de Dieu Dedha, chief physician of the Rethy health zone.
" We often administer antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs and pathological drugs that I would not like to mention here for reasons of self-medication ," he added.
To cut the chain of contamination of this disease, Dr. Dedha urged the population of this area to have the reflex to properly clean their living environment during this rainy period, but also to bring any patient showing symptoms of this disease to the nearest medical facility.
" The message to the population is to carry out sanitation during this rainy season. Immediately take any cases of fever, headache, or muscle pain to the nearest health facility. Also report any deaths and avoid contact with corpses, as well as rodents and rats found or dead ," he said.
The plague is a disease primarily transmitted to humans through the bites of fleas carrying the Yersinia pestis parasite . These fleas are carried by rodents, such as rats.
Human-to-human transmission of the plague bacillus can also occur through droplets of saliva released by a sick person when coughing. Contacts then develop pneumonic plague, he explained.
According to the latest study supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), children in three health zones of Ituri are particularly at risk of contracting the plague. The figures from this study show that in the three health zones of Biringi, Rethy, and Aru, there were 490 cases of plague between 2020 and 2021, with 20 deaths. Over the same period, 578 cases and 44 deaths related to the plague were recorded across Ituri province.
Ituri is one of the few places in the world, including Madagascar and Peru, where cases of this age-old disease continue to be reported, UNICEF said. ACP/UKB
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Djugu: One death out of at least 30 suspected cases of plague in three months in Rethy
Published on Wed, 04/23/2025 - 12:02 AM | Modified on Wed, 04/23/2025 - 3:53 PM
One person has died among approximately 30 suspected cases of plague reported over the past three months in the Rethy health zone, Djugu territory, in Ituri.
The latest case concerns a young girl of around 18 years old, who tested positive last week.
According to the head doctor of the Rethy health zone, the resurgence of this disease is linked to the current climate marked by the return of rains, favoring the reproduction of rats carrying fleas that carry the disease.
Dr. Jean de Dieu Dheda calls on the population to strengthen hygiene measures:
"My message to the public is to clean their homes internally and externally during this rainy season. Any cases of fever, headache, muscle pain, or swelling in lymph node areas should be immediately referred to a nearby facility. It is also important to report any deaths and avoid contact with corpses and rodents, especially rats found dead."
He explains that patients experience coughs with blood-tinged sputum, chest and respiratory pain, as well as high fevers, headaches, general fatigue and muscle pain.
Dr. Jean de Dieu Dheda adds that he administers antibiotics, painkillers and anti-inflammatories to combat this pathology.
https://www.radiookapi.net/2025/04/2...-en-trois-mois
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