EBOLA: WHO Promises To Fight New Outbreak In Congo

The World Health Organisation (WHO) through its Director-General of WHO, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesushas promised to fight the resurgence of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Ghebreyesushas stated this as the Government of DRC announced on Wednesday that preliminary laboratory results indicated a new cluster of cases of the deadly virus in North Kivu Province.

The announcement was issued just eight days after the Ministry of Health declared the official end of an Ebola outbreak in Equateur Province, some 2,500 kilometres from North Kivu.

Tedros said: “Ebola is a constant threat in the DRC; 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.’’

A total of 29 persons died during the most recent outbreak, which was declared over, when two weeks had passed without a new case emerging, following the release of the last patient from care.

Concern heightened in the early days of the outbreak when cases emerged in a major urban area on the Congo River.

The government informed WHO that four out of six samples tested positive for Ebola virus at the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) in Kinshasa but that further testing was ongoing.

“Since we are coming out of another Ebola outbreak, we have kept staff and equipment in place.

“This allows us to have a head start in response to this cluster,’’ said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

Majority of the cases were in the Mangina health area, which is 30 kilometres from the city of Beni, according to WHO officials.

“This new cluster is occurring in an environment, which is very different from where we were operating in the north-west,’’ said Dr Peter Salama, Deputy Director-General of the Emergency Preparedness and Response team at WHO.

Salama explained that given that North-Kivu was an active conflict zone, “the major barrier will be safely accessing the affected population’’.

North Kivu hosts over one million displaced people, according to reports.

The province shares borders with Rwanda and Uganda with a great deal of cross-border movement due to the trade activities, which, WHO warned, could increase the risk of possible spread of the virus.

WHO, however, said it would “continue to work with neighbouring countries to ensure health authorities are alerted and prepared to respond’’.