Rospotrebnadzor to send Russian test systems for diagnosing Ebola to Congo

MOSCOW. May 28 (Interfax) - The Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) will soon deliver to Congo sets of Russian test systems for detecting the Bundibugyo virus, which causes Ebola, and will train local specialists in laboratory diagnostics, the agency said.

"Rospotrebnadzor will soon deliver to the Republic of the Congo sets of Russian test systems for detecting the Bundibugyo virus and will train local specialists in laboratory diagnostics and organization of anti-epidemic events," the agency said on its official Max channel.

The agency's specialists have held talks with the Ministry of Healthcare and Population of the Republic of the Congo on the situation with the outbreak of the disease caused by the Ebola virus in the neighboring Republic of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rospotrebnadzor said. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Congo is at high risk for the spread of the disease, the agency said.

Measures have been organized in Congo to prevent the import of the infection using a mobile laboratory provided by Rospotrebnadzor in 2025, the agency said. Rapid reaction teams trained to use advanced Russian methods are located at all entry points.

According to the WHO, the number of presumed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is nearing 1,000, and 101 of the infection cases has been confirmed with lab tests. Two hundred twenty deaths, presumably of Ebola, have been registered in the country.