Ebola killing Congolese children at unprecedented rate, health officials say

Children in the Democratic Republic of Congo are dying "at an unprecedented rate" amid the nation's ongoing Ebola outbreak, the Congo's health ministry said Oct. 28, according to Reuters.

Of the 120 confirmed Ebola cases in the city of Beni, about 30 occurred in children under age 10. Twenty-seven of those children died.

"There is an abnormally high number of children who have contracted and died of Ebola in Beni. Normally, in every Ebola epidemic, children are not as affected," Jessica Ilunga, a spokeswoman for the health ministry, told Reuters.

Many of the infected children had recently seen a medical practitioner or traditional healer in Beni, as it is peak malaria season in the area. Health officials cited poor sanitation and infection control practices at these clinics as the main cause of the heightened death rate.

"Traditional healers use the same tools to treat everyone. And the child who has entered a traditional healer's clinic with malaria comes out with Ebola and dies several days later," Ms. Ilunga said.

Health officials confirmed nine Ebola cases Oct. 27, marking the largest one-day increase since the outbreak started Aug. 1. The Congo has reported 267 confirmed and probable Ebola cases and 168 deaths linked to the outbreak as of Oct. 27.