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The Democratic Republic of Congo may have declared the end of its ninth outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus since 1976, but health experts are already preparing ways to defeat the next outbreak.
Health training officials are looking at a myriad of options to better prepare the nation for what many fear is its inevitable future. "19659002" It is likely that we will have a 10th outbreak, "Emanuele Capobianco, chief of health at the International Federation The Thomson Reuters Foundation interviewed the Thomson Reuters Foundation during a telephone interview in Geneva
" The problems that have contributed to this outbreak – poor infrastructure, poor health and sanitation – are still with us, "said Elhadj, as IFRC Secretary General Sy said in a statement.
the last outbreak, declared by the government on Tuesday, began in May and left 33 dead
.1 The distance between bats causes haemorrhagic fevers, vomiting and diarrhea. the virus kills half of those it infects, according to the World Health Organization, and it is transmitted by bodily fluids.
It often spreads to humans via meat In 2016, more than 28,600 people were infected and more than 11,000 died in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Unlike previous Ebola outbreaks in the DRC, it affected four localities, including a large city with links to the capital.
Yet, for the first time, the global health community in the DRC has been able to deploy a vaccine to contain its spread.
Developed by Merck and deployed by the World Health Organization, the vaccine was hailed as a "game changer" by DRC government officials after more than 3,300 people were vaccinated and that no new cases of viruses have been reported.
Capobianco described the vaccine as "potentially the biggest weapon" against future outbreaks But experts say that myths and rumors must be canceled
Read: The Ebola outbreak in Congo completed, according to the Department of Health
COMMUNITY POLICY [19659002] Marie-Claire Thérèse Fwelo, a WHO official who worked on the nine outbreaks of Ebola in her DRC said it was a key to counter misinformation, citing rumors that the vaccine could make people infertile or that Ebola was a curse.
Some residents also challenged medical advice and smuggled out two dying Ebola patients from the hospital, leading them to a prayer meeting of 50 people, Reuters reported.
Communication and local collaboration are essential. The workers trained local figures – including religious leaders, traditional chiefs, pygmy groups and even motorcycle drivers – on how to stop the virus, she said
. Locals also need to keep them on She explained that teams go door-to-door to pick up the sick or the dead. "As international teams pack up and leave, these local stakeholders will stay," said Sy.
TECH TOOLS
Rapid diagnosis is a challenge – the latest epidemic in the DRC According to a recent Lancet study, technology could be of great help .
Capobianco, of the IFRC, said mobile phones could be used to report suspicious cases in real time, locate specific locations and allow badysts to map triggering. He admitted that such systems, however, depend on an operational communication network, a problem in the last outbreak.
The Red Cross is also developing a mobile data collection application to support response and recovery efforts. Tanzania A new application allows locals to record symptoms of suspected diseases, such as Ebola and Cholera, on their phones. The data allows experts to diagnose and alert the authorities of a potential outbreak more quickly.
Despite all the hope offered by new technologies, officials say it's changing people and their behavior, as well as improving health facilities.
"If we talk about new technologies, and that individuals are not ready, we will fail," Capobianco said.
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