By Ola Kay
Health Ministry of the Democratic Republic of Congo has announced a fresh Ebola outbreak, the 16th in the central African country, after a case was confirmed in the southern Kasai province with 28 suspected cases and 15 death.
“To date, the provisional report shows 28 suspected cases and 15 deaths, including 14 in Boulape and one in Mweka, as well as four healthcare workers,” the Health Minister of Congo, Samuel-Roger Kamba has stated.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) report indicated that the outbreak is concentrated in the Bulape and Mweka health zones in Kasai Province, in the south-central region of the country.
In the wake of the emergency, the DR Congo’s Ministry of Health and the global UN health body, WHO, has deployed an advance team that will facilitate response.
Meanwhile, tested samples at the country’s National Institute of Biomedical Research in the capital Kinshasa on September 3rd confirmed the cause of the outbreak as the Ebola Zaire strain.
The Ebola virus is highly contagious and can be contracted through bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. The disease it causes is a rare but severe and often fatal illness in humans.
The country’s health ministry informed that a national Rapid Response Team assisted by WHO experts in epidemiology, infection prevention and control, as well as case management, has been deployed to Kasai province.
WHO has also deployed communication experts to reach communities and educate them on how to protect themselves in addition to the delivery of two tonnes of essential supplies including personal protective equipment, mobile laboratory equipment and medical supplies.
Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa said: “We are acting with determination to rapidly halt the spread of the virus and protect communities. Banking on the country’s long-standing expertise in controlling viral disease outbreaks, we’re working closely with the health authorities to quickly scale up key response measures to end the outbreak as soon as possible.”
On the capacity of the health ministry to handle the health emergency, already, the country has a stockpile of treatments, as well as 2,000 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine prepositioned in the capital city Kinshasa because according to WHO, case numbers are likely to increase as transmission is ongoing
The DRC’s last outbreak affected the northwestern Equateur province in April 2022 but was brought under control under three months with great efforts of the health authorities.
The country is on of the worst hit since the disease was first identified in 1976, there have been overall 15 outbreaks in Democratic Republic of Congo .
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