By RFIPalled on 16-07-2019Modified on 16-07-2019 at 11:45

Congolese authorities are calling for calm in Goma in eastern DRC, the capital of North Kivu, after a first Ebola case was confirmed positive on Sunday (July 14th). This is an "imported" case, a pastor from South Kivu who contracted the disease in Butembo. The governor of North Kivu welcomes the fact that this case was quickly "detected" and "isolated". Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) speaks of a "worrying" situation and the World Health Organization (WHO) of a "very disturbing" evolution.

It was a dreaded scenario , but in Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) many expected it. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been prepositioned to take care of possible cases for several months, information campaigns have been conducted and nearly 3,000 health personnel are already vaccinated. Still, this first case worries.

If his care was quick in Goma, we also know that the patient, a pastor, had presented the first symptoms as early as July 9, before deciding last Friday to make the trip Butembo-Goma. A two-day trip aboard a bus carrying 18 other passengers and during which he managed to pass three checkpoints without being detected.

No filtering 100% effective

" It's a bit surprising, " says Antoine Gauge, Ebola emergency program manager for Médecins Sans Frontières. This shows, he says, that we need to " continue efforts " even if, says this specialist, " we know that it is very difficult to set up a filtering that is 100% effective ".

Since Sunday, July 14, to avoid a spread, all the teams of the response are busy tracing the exact route of the patient during these two days, identify the places where he could go, those where he slept, people he met. On Monday evening, the WHO had already listed about sixty people to contact. Of these, half have so far been found and vaccinated.

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