WHO has confirmed 8 new cases of Ebola virus disease in DR Congo in spite of efforts to contain the spread of the disease
According to the latest Disease Outbreak News issued by the WHO, there have been eight new EVD cases, all of which are confirmed: three from Beni, three from Butembo and two from Mabalako health zones. All eight new cases have been directly linked to an, ongoing transmission chain stemming from a community in Beni.
Of the three new cases in Butembo, one was an adult male from Mangina who reported an earlier illness and then was laboratory confirmed post-recovery via testing of a semen sample when his spouse was diagnosed with EVD.
“Given that he was asymptomatic since travelling to Butembo, the risk of onward transmission from this individual is minimal,” WHO explained.
It added that the other two cases were health workers who cared for a subsequently-confirmed case at a small health post and assisted in her transfer to a tertiary hospital. This brings the total to 19 reported cases among health workers: 18 were laboratory confirmed and three have died. All 19 exposures occurred in local health facilities outside of dedicated Ebola treatment centres (ETCs).
As of 12 September 2018, a total of 137 EVD cases (106 confirmed and 31 probable), including 92 deaths (61 confirmed and 31 probable) have been reported in seven health zones in North Kivu Province (Beni, Butembo, Kalunguta, Mabalako, Masereka, Musienene and Oicha), and Mandima Health Zone in Ituri Province.
WHO noted an overall decreasing trend in weekly case incidence but warned the trends must be interpreted with caution given the expected delays in case reporting and the ongoing detection of sporadic cases.
“Of the 130 probable and confirmed cases for whom age and sex information is known, adults aged 35–44 years (22%) and females (57%) accounted for the greatest proportion of cases,” WHO noted.
According to its assessment, WHO said the overall situation has improved since the height of the epidemic; however, significant risks remain surrounding the continued detections of sporadic cases within Mabalako, Beni and Butembo health zones in North Kivu Province.
WHO noted: “While the majority of communities have welcomed response measures, such as daily contact monitoring and vaccination where appropriate, in some, risks of transmission and poor disease outcomes have been amplified by unfavourable behaviours, with reluctance to adopt prevention and risk mitigation behaviours. There have been challenges with contact tracing activities due to the constant movement of people between health zones, individuals hiding when symptoms develop and reports of community resistance. Risks are heightened by continued transmission in local health facilities because of poor infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, sporadic reports of unsafe burials, and the detection of cases in hard-to-reach and insecure areas.”
As of 12 September, 17 suspected cases are pending testing to confirm or exclude EVD. Moreover, EVD was ruled out for recent alerts from Kasaji, Tanganyika, Tshopo and Kinshasa provinces, as well as for all alerts from neighbouring countries.
Almost 200 experts have been deployed by WHO to support response activities including emergency coordinators, epidemiologists, laboratory experts, logisticians, clinical care specialists, communicators, and community engagement specialists. Furthermore, 5500 contacts have been registered to date, of which 1751 remain under surveillance as of 12 September.
As of 13 September, 52 vaccination rings have been defined, in addition to 17 rings of health workers and other frontline workers. These rings include the contacts (and their contacts) of 55 confirmed cases from the last three weeks. To date, 8902 people consented and were vaccinated, including 2951 health care or frontline workers, and 2054 children.