BUNIA (Congo): After her mother died in late May, baby Buswaza was brought to a church-run orphanage in eastern Congo where the nuns quickly discovered the newborn was running a fever. Within days, she died from what they later found out was Ebola.
Carers and medics said that after her death six other babies were identified as suspected Ebola cases at the orphanage of 69 children in Bunia - a city in Ituri province at the epicentre of the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They were taken to hospital, where five of them later tested negative and were discharged from an isolation tent at the Evangelical Medical Centre (CME) on Tuesday by medics in full protective suits to smiling nuns.
“We thank the hospital staff, we are very grateful,” said Sister Clarisse, carrying a baby in a pink hooded gown. But another one of the babies - an orphan triplet girl nicknamed “Cherie” or “darling” who was less than a year old - with confirmed Ebola died on Wednesday, Dr. Freddy Kibwana, head of the CME, told Reuters. “The child has left us,” he said.
Children and babies can easily become vectors for the disease through bodily fluids like vomit, faeces and saliva which are highly infectious when people have Ebola. Three of the deceased babies’ carers including a nun have tested positive for Ebola, aid workers and medics said.