A second wave of Ebola activity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) city of Beni has now topped its first wave, and the area has become a source of spread to other areas, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its weekly snapshot of outbreak activity .
Meanwhile, the number of the DRC increased by eight more instances, according to an internet dashboard from the WHO, which puts the total at 2,620 instances, of which 1,756 are deadly. So far, the office of the DRC president, which moved outbreak reaction operations to its technical group previously this week, has not released any comprehensive weekly updates after the country’s health minister resigned.
Infections continue amid violence
The WHO said in its update today that sustained local transmission in the epidemic remains with many cases, half of them in the Beni health area over the previous 3 weeks. Mandima, Mabalako, and Katwa are other latest hot spots.
Despite significant infection prevention and control measures, 141 have been revealed so far, new healthcare workers and nosocomial infections continue to be reported in Beni and other impacted health regions.
Beni’s current wave of infections has involved more cases and is now longer than the region’s initial wave, early in the outbreak that started nearly a year ago.
A revival of armed group activity is a problem throughout the outbreak region, and increased Allied Democratic Forces activity has led to ongoing conflicts with the DRC’s Armed Forces— another rebel group— northeast of Beni in the Oicha and Erengeti regions. The WHO said it monitors security problems on an ongoing basis and implements mitigation measures to guarantee personnel safety.
Other significant difficulties include a large percentage of community fatalities, a comparatively small percentage of fresh diseases associated with known instances, persistence of transmission chains associated with nosocomial exposure, delays in disease detection and isolation, and ongoing community resistance pockets. They are all disturbing indications.
No new cases in Goma or Uganda
“In the provincial capital city of Goma, which reported its first case earlier this month, no new cases have been reported, and intensive follow-up of contacts will continue until the 21-day monitoring period ends, the WHO said. It noted that 19 health workers were deployed from other areas to beef up support in Goma.”
Meanwhile, in a joint declaration published yesterday on Twitter, Uganda’s health ministry and the WHO said 42 days— two periods of incubation — have passed since a patient’s Ebola death in Kasese county, indicating that the outbreak is contained. After traveling from the DRC, the patient was one of three family members who were diagnosed with Ebola.
Health authorities advised that while there are presently no instances of Ebola in Uganda, the epidemic of the DRC continues to escalate, posing a danger to Uganda, which shares the DRC’s lengthy, porous boundary.
Rwanda’s preparedness is a good example for other countries
Other nations in the outbreak region are still preparing for the virus ‘ arrival elsewhere. WHO Secretary- General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, released a declaration yesterday in which he praised Rwanda for its continuing attempts to prepare for Ebola.
“Rwanda has been proactive and engaged in Ebola preparedness at all levels since the outbreak was declared almost one year ago in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo,” he said. “We commend the actions taken so far and confirm that there have been no cases of Ebola in Rwanda to date, despite high levels of traffic and movement of people between the two countries.”
The country, for example, has a detailed national preparedness plan, is training health workers on how to detect cases early, and is vaccinating health workers in high-risk areas, the WHO said.
Screening was strengthened at the DRC- Rwandan border crossing between Goma and Gisenyi, where tens of thousands of individuals pass each day. Moreover, in 15 priority districts, the nation now has an Ebola therapy center plus 23 isolation units in hospitals.
Ebola vaccination begins in Burundi
Yesterday in Burundi, which borders Rwanda and the DRC, Ebola vaccination started elsewhere with $500,000 in assistance from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the group’s CEO, Seth Berkley, MD, said yesterday on Twitter.
“This is part of ongoing efforts to help DRC’s neighbors prepare for the disease, with thousands of frontline health workers already vaccinated in Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda,” he added.
