At least 68 people are suspected of Ebola in four districts of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Kasai state, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Twenty cases have been confirmed and 16 people have died since the DRC declared the outbreak on 4 September, Africa CDC’s Dr Ngashi Ngongo told a media briefing on Thursday.
The first case was identified at the Bulape General Referral Hospital, and a nurse and laboratory technician who attended to the patient have also since died, said Ngashi.
Although this is the 16th Ebola outbreak in the DRC since 1976, it appears to be “a new zoonotic spillover” with sequencing showing that the strain is most similar to the 1976 outbreak rather than recent outbreaks, added Ngongo.
He added that, because of the remote nature of the outbreak, getting samples to laboratories “really takes time”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has airlifted 12 tonnes of outbreak control materials, including personal protective equipment, patient isolation materials, water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to support clinical care and protect frontline health workers.
“The affected localities are hard to reach. We are working round the clock to rapidly roll out response measures to ensure robust outbreak control to stop the virus from spreading further and save lives,” said Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
Vaccination of health workers
Meanwhile, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is assisting the health ministry and the WHO to set up and manage a treatment centre at Bulape Hospital.
“We helped reinforce triage protocols, supplied essential medicines and personal protective equipment, and conducted training in infection prevention and control, and symptomatic care,” said Brice de le Vingne, MSF’s emergency coordinator.
“Currently, a dozen MSF staff are present in Bulape, and we are sending in more people and tonnes of medical materials,” he added.
“We’re working hand in hand with Congolese health authorities to evaluate needs on the ground and determine where our support might also be required – such as in surveillance, community engagement, or vaccination.”
Around 68 health workers have already been vaccinated from a store of 2,000 vaccines held by the DRC.
The Africa CDC says that the outbreak poses “a major threat to national health systems and neighbouring countries, particularly Angola”.
Bulape town has been put under confinement by the state governor, and people are not allowed to move around freely.
While contract tracing was happening, it needed to reach more people, said Ngongo.
The WHO is working with 10 countries neighbouring the DRC to increase disease surveillance and contingency planning.
For example, in Angola, WHO is supporting the national authorities increase preparedness, especially in Lunda Norte Province, which borders Kasai Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ebola virus disease is a rare but severe and often fatal illness in humans. Humans contract the virus from infected animals, while human-to-human transmission is through direct contact with blood or body fluids of an infected person, objects that have been contaminated with their body fluids or from the body of a person who has died from Ebola.
Image Credits: UNICEF/Tremeau .
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