The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced last week that tests of cases in the country’s North Kivu province by the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) revealed Ebola in patients.
Though the news came just over a week after the Ministry of Health declared an Ebola outbreak in Equateur Province ended, the Ministry of Health of the DRC, the World Health Organization and its partners immediately responded, and an outbreak was declared. D. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa, noted that an outbreak so soon after another might work to their advantage as all of the staff and equipment necessary to combat it is still in place. There are other problems to consider, though.
“This new cluster is occurring in an environment which is very different from where we were operating in the northwest,” Peter Salama, WHO deputy director-general of Emergency Preparedness and Response, said. “This is an active conflict zone. The major barrier will be safely accessing the affected population.”
North Kivu province currently hosts more than 1 million displaced people and sees major cross-border movement due to trade with Rwanda and Uganda. Investigations are ongoing, but as of August 3, a total of 43 Ebola virus cases, including 33 deaths, have been reported, and another 33 suspected cases are pending lab testing. Five probable cases have also spread to neighboring Ituri province.
“Ebola is a constant threat in the DRC,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “What adds to our confidence in the country’s ability to respond is the transparency they have displayed once again. Working closely with the Ministry of Health and partners, we will fight this one as we did the last.”
WHO is working to create and strengthen surveillance efforts, trace points of contact, expand lab capacities, and work on preventing infections, among other measures. Rapid Response teams are on site, and an incident management team has been established in the DRC. Ebola treatment centers are being established in Mangina, Beni, and Goma, and 879 contacts have already been registered for follow-up in contact tracing activities.
WHO warns that national and regional risks to the public health are high, but global risk is low.