Authorities declare new Ebola outbreak in DR Congo

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have declared an Ebola outbreak in Kasai Province, with 28 suspected cases and 15 deaths.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that the outbreak is concentrated in the Bulape and Mweka health zones in Kasai Province, in the south-central region of the country.

To rapidly scale up the response, an advance team from the country’s Ministry of Health and the global UN health body, WHO, has been deployed.

Symptoms of the rare, but severe, and often fatal illness, include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and haemorrhaging.

Samples tested on September 3 at the country’s National Institute of Biomedical Research in the capital Kinshasa confirmed the cause of the outbreak as the Ebola Zaire strain.

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.

Communication experts have also been deployed to reach communities and help them understand how to protect themselves.

Additionally, WHO is delivering two tonnes of essential supplies including personal protective equipment, mobile laboratory equipment and medical supplies.

The area is difficult to reach and at least a day’s drive from the provincial capital Tshikapa, with few air links.

“We’re acting with determination to rapidly halt the spread of the virus and protect communities,” Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said.

“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.”

WHO said case numbers are likely to increase as transmission is ongoing.

The country has a stockpile of treatments, as well as 2,000 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine already prepositioned in the capital city Kinshasa.

The stockpile will be quickly moved to Kasai to vaccinate contacts and frontline health workers, according to WHO .

The DRC’s last outbreak affected the northwestern Equateur province in April 2022.

It was brought under control in under three months, thanks to the robust efforts of the health authorities.

In Kasai province, previous outbreaks of Ebola virus disease were reported in 2007 and 2008.

In the country overall, there have been 15 outbreaks since the disease was first identified in 1976.