Congo works to stop new Ebola outbreak in eastern country

BENI, Congo – Health officials in Congo confirmed another Ebola outbreak in the east of the country on Sunday, the fourth in less than three years. On February 3, a woman died in the town of Butembo, in the province of North Kivu, Health Minister Eteni Longondo announced.

The woman from the nearby village of Biena felt ill for a few days before being tested at a clinic there. She then went to the Butembo hospital, but died before receiving the results. The government has started tracking down everyone who has come in contact with her to try “to eradicate the epidemic as quickly as possible,” Longondo said.

It is the 12th outbreak in a conflict-ravaged Congo since the virus was discovered in the country in 1976, and comes less than three months after an outbreak in the western province of Equateur, officially ended in November. The 2018 outbreak in eastern Congo was the second deadliest in the world, killing 2,299 people before ending in June. This outbreak lasted for nearly two years and was fought against a backdrop of unprecedented challenges, including entrenched conflict between armed groups, the world’s largest measles outbreak and the spread of COVID-19.

Health officials fear that a new Ebola outbreak could severely affect the country’s fragile health system, especially as it faces a resurgence of COVID-19.

“While there is hope that this early identification of an infection can help quickly contain this outbreak, subsequent outbreaks of Ebola and COVID-19 have pushed Congolese health systems to the limit, which could put a lot more pressure on, ”said Jason Kindrachuk, assistant professor in the department of medical microbiology and infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba in Canada and who is leading research on survivors of the Ebola epidemic in Africa of the West of 2014-2016, the deadliest ever.

The Ebola virus is very contagious and can be contracted from body fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. Although the source of contamination is still unknown, the deceased woman was the wife of an Ebola survivor, according to the government. The virus can live in the semen of male survivors for more than three years, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study, and health experts say that as outbreaks become more frequent, it’s important to better understand how they are contracted.

In a statement released on Sunday, the World Health Organization said it was not unusual for sporadic cases to occur following a major outbreak and that previous responses to Ebola were already making it easier to manage. -this.

“The expertise and capacity of the local health teams were essential in detecting this new case of Ebola and paving the way for a rapid response,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa . WHO is investigating the case and is trying to identify the strain of the virus to determine its link to the previous outbreak.

Congo has suffered from more than a quarter of a century of conflict and mistrust of government health workers and other foreigners is high in eastern Congo. Residents of Butembo are already wondering why it took four days from the time the woman was tested to announce the results.

“It’s frustrating because the contacts will have moved and it will be difficult to find them,” Vianey Kasondoli, a resident of Butembo, told The Associated Press by telephone. “The government and the Ministry of Health must contain the disease as quickly as possible.”