DRC: the government confirms a case of Ebola in North Kivu

A medical staff member from the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) dressed in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) washes their hands as they prepare to work during a weekly rehearsal at Bwera General Hospital , on the border with the DRC, in western Uganda, on December 12, 2018. AFP - ISAAC KASAMANI

Text by: RFI Follow

3 mins

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed a new case of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the east of the country, which health authorities had been investigating since last week, the Congolese Ministry of Health said on Tuesday (23 August). .

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The sample taken from the sick person – a 46-year-old woman who died on August 15 in the health zone of Beni (North Kivu) – “ 

was tested positive for EVD (…) in Beni and then confirmed in the laboratory of the INRB

[National Institute of Biomedical Research]

 of Goma 

”, capital of the province, indicates the Ministry of Health in a press release dated August 21 and made public late Monday evening.

The sequencing also showed that this case was "

 linked to a strain of the 10th epidemic of 2018

[which had already struck North Kivu]

and not to a new introduction of the virus 

", adds the text, ensuring that the teams "

 are already hard at work on the ground to carry out response activities 

".

About 160 contact cases have been identified to date, the ministry said.

“ 

It may be a virus that was dormant in someone cured of the disease.

We now know that those cured of Ebola disease can keep the virus for a certain amount of time.

Research is still underway to better understand what is happening in these

 recoveries, ”explains Dr. Gervais Folefack, coordinator of the emergency program for the WHO in the DRC, joined by

Pierre-Yves Georges

from the Africa department of RFI.

The regional office for Africa of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Saturday that an investigation was underway into this suspected case, registered less than two months after the

official end of the 14th Ebola epidemic which

occurred in the DRC since 1976, which had killed five people in the west in three months.

The epidemic occurs in an area where there is insecurity

An epidemic soon under control despite insecurity?

“ 

It worries us of course because Ebola is still a serious disease.

It is a contagious disease, with a very high lethality, and that also worries us because the epidemic is occurring in an area where there is insecurity

 , ”continues Dr Gervais Folefack. 

However, the coordinator of the emergency program for the WHO in the DRC wants to be positive.

“ 

The country still has a certain number of capacities, because we have nevertheless faced several epidemics of Ebola virus disease.

So there are capacities in terms of human resources.

The vaccines arrive in Beni today.

I believe that there are still capacities in place which can make it possible to circumscribe the epidemic as quickly as possible

 , ”he told RFI.

Remarks supported by Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Africa Director, in a press release, in which she underlines that " 

the health authorities of North Kivu have succeeded in stopping several outbreaks of Ebola and, by relying on this expertise , there is no doubt that it will quickly be brought under control 

”.

The WHO regional office specifies that the DRC "

 has 1,000 doses of ERVEBO vaccines against the Ebola virus, of which 200 will be sent to Beni this week

 ".

“ 

Ring vaccination, which involves vaccinating contacts and contacts of contacts to curb the spread of the virus and protect lives, is expected to start soon 

,” he adds.

To read also

: The WHO strongly recommends two treatments against Ebola, a first

(

and with AFP

)

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