The Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center, located in South Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has gone into lockdown to protect its primates.Primatologists say Ebola transmission from infected wild primates to humans has been documented repeatedly but there are no recorded cases of transmission from humans to great apes.Emergency plans have also been activated to limit the spread of the virus in the protected areas of the Greater Virunga Landscape, a transboundary area shared among the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.As of May 27, the World Health Organization has already recorded 223 suspected deaths linked to the current outbreak.
Since May 23, more than 200 primates housed at the Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center (LPRC) in South Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been placed under confinement due to the Ebola outbreak.
This measure follows the death of a man who tested positive for the virus on May 21. This individual, a resident of Kahungu, located just 2 km (1.2 miles) from the town of Lwiro, where the center is situated, had traveled in early May to neighboring Ituri province. Ituri is the epicenter of the outbreak, which, as of May 27, is linked to more than 200 suspected deaths.
