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Geneva, Thursday, November 15, 2018 – According to the latest report
of the Congolese Ministry of Health released on Wednesday, the epidemic
Ebola virus that affects the Kivu region in the eastern part of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since
1st last August, caused the death of 215
people.
Ten days after the director of the Centers for Control
and American Disease Prevention (CDC), Robert Redfield has
announced that the Ebola epidemic currently affecting the
DRC could be hard to contain, his fears seem to be
the point of confirming itself. The World Health Organization (WHO)
says now that she can not control
the epidemic. The last official record of the Congolese authorities
reported 341 cases (of which 308 were confirmed) and 215 deaths. Some
fear that the outbreak will become structural and that the virus
Ebola is settling in the area for a long time.
The fight against the disease is made particularly
difficult by the security conditions in the region. Kivu
has been in the grip of a civil war since 2004, which has
earned the glum nickname of " death triangle ". The
militia of the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces), originating in
neighboring Uganda, fight daily
government and terror in the region. exodus
local populations because of the war makes it particularly
difficult the work of doctors, who fail to isolate
infectious foci. The war also created a climate of
misinformation and fear of the inhabitants, vis-à-vis the authorities
but also humanitarians.
Two Congolese doctors killed last week
Last week, the leader of the Blue Helmets in the region
to call the different warring factions not to impede
efforts of the health services. But nothing works and the
health professionals are not spared from the violence.
Three humanitarian workers were held hostage last week and
two Congolese doctors were killed. Doctors are trying so much
although it is difficult to help the local population, by
vaccination campaigns (30 000 vaccinated to date) and
using new experimental molecules on patients
contaminated, but the means are sometimes sorely lacking. LONG
Alima has just launched a call to recruit new
resuscitators, essential to continue its mission in
DRC.
The current epidemic is the tenth one known by the DRC. The first
of 1976 remains the deadliest with 280 deaths for 318 cases.
Quentin Haroche
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