By Ethan Covey
The 10th outbreak of Ebola virus disease to affect the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to grow, according to reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the CDC.
The outbreak was declared on Aug. 1, 2018, and designated a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization on July 17, 2019. As of Feb. 2, a total of 3,428 cases have been identified, resulting in 2,246 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are 1,157 survivors, according to WHO.
“Although DRC has successfully contained Ebola outbreaks in the past, challenges specific to North Kivu and Ituri provinces have complicated the current outbreak control,” commented Kerton R. Victory, PhD, a surveillance technical advisor, Goma Team, DRC Ebola Response, CDC. Dr. Victory noted that challenges to outbreak control have included community mistrust, porous borders, and armed conflict between rebel groups and DRC’s armed forces, which has interrupted response activities (MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2019;68:1162-1165).
The WHO currently has over 800 staff on the ground in DRC supporting the government-led response team. Additionally, the DRC Ministry of Health (MoH) has established a strategic coordination center in Goma, with an emergency operations center (EOC) that monitors local operations and has direct contact with the teams in the health zones. "The work of the EOC has improved the ability of DRC MoH to respond to this epidemic and identify targeted intervention strategies for affected health zones,” Dr. Victory said.
Even with these efforts, work is needed to effectively end the outbreak. Additional response personnel are needed to reduce strain on existing resources, as are other interventions. “To end the outbreak, we need enhanced interventions, such as effective communication and community engagement, and intensive training of local residents to manage response activities with periodic supervision by national and international personnel,” Dr. Victory said.
For information from WHO, click here.
