THE Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) declared an
outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the Bikoro Health
Zone, Equateur Province in the Western part of the country.
By
15 May, 2018 a total of 44 EVD cases (3 confirmed) had been reported
with 19 deaths, including three health care workers. As of 16 May, 393
contacts had been identified and are being followed. A new confirmed
case in the 1.2 million people town of Mbandaka, some 150 km away from
Bikoro, increases the risk of spreading the disease.
The
World Health Organization (WHO), Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the
International Committee of the Red Cross and other international
organization
are on site and supporting the DRC in the fight against the outbreak,
the ninth that has occurred in the country.
Ebola
is a zoonotic virus disease that is transmitted from animals to humans.
Experts believe that bats are the reservoir for the pathogen. While
they do not get sick, the Ebola virus causes a severe, often fatal
illness in humans. It spreads in the human population through
human-to-human transmission, via direct contact with the blood,
secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people and
through contaminated surfaces and materials, such as bedding or
clothing. There is no therapy yet for EVD and about 50% of people
infected with the virus may die.
Health workers have an increased risk due to the nature of their work that exposes them to infected people.
Five
out of six EAC Partner States share borders with the DRC, and all of
them maintain close trade relations with high border traffic. There
are also direct flights between the DRC and individual East African
Partner States. These factors have caused the EAC to be on high alert.
Partner States have put safety measures in place that range from
screening people arriving from DRC at the border posts
for signs of the disease to alerting health personnel; enhancing
diagnostic capacities at major research centres; and informing citizens
of the risk and of preventive measures. To date, no cases of Ebola have
been detected in the EAC region.
The
EAC region has experienced a number of Ebola outbreaks in the past, and
some 500 East African experts assisted in the fight against Ebola
in West Africa in 2014-2016, when the disease killed more than 11,000
out of almost 30,000 infected people. These experts represent a unique
pool of professionals from different disciplines, all with hands-on
experience in responding to EVD outbreaks. They
can be mobilised at short notice to join the common effort of
preventing the disease to spread into the EAC.
Still,
the EAC Secretariat encourages the public to be vigilant and alert.
People should seek medical attention when the following symptoms are
observed: a sudden onset of fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and
sore throat. This is often followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, and a skin
rash. It can be accompanied by internal and external bleeding (e.g.
oozing from the gums, blood in the stools). The
public is also urged to continue cooperating with the health workers of
their nearest health facilities by availing themselves of information
about EVD.
The
EAC Secretariat commends the Partner States for their vigilance and
quick and prudent response across disciplines as reflected in the One
Health approach. The Secretariat will continue to monitor the situation
together with the EAC Partner States to detect any occurrence of EVD in
the region at the earliest possible time.
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