Congo declares new Ebola outbreak in Mbandaka

The health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today
declared (https://bit.ly/3savTKn) an outbreak of Ebola after a case was
confirmed in Mbandaka, a city in the north-western Equateur Province.
This is the third outbreak in the province since 2018.
So far, just one case has been confirmed. The patient, a 31-year-old
man, began experiencing symptoms on 5 April and after more than
a week of care at home, sought treatment at a local health facility.
On 21 April, the patient was admitted to an Ebola treatment centre
for intensive care but died later that day. Having recognized the
symptoms, health workers immediately submitted samples to test for
Ebola virus disease. Investigations to determine the source of the
outbreak are ongoing.
“Time is not on our side,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World
health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. “The
disease has had a two-week head start and we are now playing
catch-up. The positive news is that health authorities in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo have more experience than anyone
else in the world at controlling Ebola outbreaks quickly.”
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is experiencing its fourteenth
Ebola outbreaks since 1976. The current outbreak is the sixth since
2018 alone – the most frequent occurrence in the country’s Ebola
history. Previous outbreaks in Equateur Province were in 2020 and
2018, with 130 and 54 recorded cases respectively.
Efforts to stem the current outbreak are already underway. The
deceased patient received a safe and dignified burial, which involves
modifying traditional funeral ceremonies in a way that minimizes the
risk of contagious fluids infecting attendees. Anyone who came in
contact with the patient are also being identified and their health
will be monitored. The health facility where the patient received
care has been decontaminated.
WHO experts based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are
supporting the national authorities to ramp up key outbreak response
areas including testing, contact tracing, infection prevention and
control, treatment as well as working with communities to support
the public health measures to prevent infections.
Vaccination is set to kick off in the coming days. The country
already has stockpiles of the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine available
in the cities of Goma and Kinshasa. Vaccines will be sent to Mbandaka
and administered through ‘ring vaccination’ strategy—where contacts
and contacts of contacts are vaccinated to curb the spread of the
virus and protect lives.
“Many people in Mbandaka are already vaccinated against Ebola, which
should help reduce the impact of the disease,” said Dr Moeti. “All
those who were vaccinated during the 2020 outbreak will be
revaccinated.”
Ebola is a severe, often fatal illness affecting humans and other
primates. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past
outbreaks. There is now effective treatment available and if patients
receive treatment early, as well as supportive care, their chances of
survival improve significantly.