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The current Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is the worst in the country's history, with 319 confirmed and probable cases, making 198 deaths, the ministry said. of the country's health.
Ebola virus disease, which causes a type of often fatal haemorrhagic fever, is endemic in the region. This is the 10th epidemic that the Democratic Republic of the Congo has known since 1976, when scientists discovered the deadly virus near the eponymous Ebola River.
"No other epidemic in the world has been as complex as the one we are currently experiencing," said Dr. Oly Ilunga Kalenga, Minister of Health, in a statement.
The epidemic is also the third worst in the history of the African continent, after 28,652 cases in 2013-2016 in several West African countries and 425 cases in Uganda in 2000, according to the data. collected by the United States Centers for Disease. Control and prevention.
Of the total number of people who reported symptoms of haemorrhagic fever since the start of the country's last outbreak, on August 1, 284 of them tested positive for Ebola. Nearly 28,000 people have been vaccinated in the area of the epidemic since August 8, according to the Ministry of Health.
Olivia Acland / Reuters
The epidemic is mainly concentrated in North-Kivu province, in the north-east of the country, where about half of the cases were in the conflict-ridden city of Beni, which is home to 800,000 people. People have also been infected in the neighboring province of Ituri.
North Kivu and Ituri are among the most populous provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo and share borders with Uganda and Rwanda. They are also inundated with violence and insecurity, particularly in the mineral-rich border areas where militia activity has increased over the past year, making it difficult to respond to the epidemic.
According to the Ministry of Health, some residents are reluctant to seek care or allow health workers to vaccinate, search for contacts and perform safe burials.
"Since their arrival in the region, the intervention teams have been facing threats, physical assaults, repeated destruction of their equipment and kidnappings." Two of our colleagues from the medical unit said: Rapid intervention have even lost their lives in an attack, "said the Minister of Health in the government. his statement Friday night.
Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro / AP
Although the epidemic remains "dangerous and unpredictable," new measures to overcome these challenges have a "positive impact," said the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Health (WHO) in a statement Thursday at the end of a joint mission situation.
"The fact that we have so far prevented the spread of the Ebola virus in neighboring countries is testament to the hard work and determination of the staff of all partners," said WHO Director-General Tedros. Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) recently adopted an "active approach" towards armed groups operating in North Kivu, offering in Beni and the surrounding areas, although some attacks persisted in the surrounding villages.
"We face many complex challenges, but it is encouraging and inspiring to see that our efforts to act as a single UN have been extremely successful in many hot spots and will help end the epidemic and save lives. lives, "said UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said in the statement.
Aboulaye Cisse / WHO via Reuters
Last month, WHO took into account the recommendation of an expert advisory committee not to declare the public health emergency epidemic of international concern – a proclamation that would have mobilized more resources and mobilized the international community. attention of the international community.
Committee Chair Robert Steffen said he made his decision by examining three main criteria.
"Is it extraordinary, is there a risk of cross-border spread, is there potential to demand an international response?" Steffen told reporters at a teleconference on October 17.
Despite its conclusion, the committee emphasized in a statement that the Congolese government, the WHO and its partners "must intensify the current response" to the ongoing epidemic and that this "should be supported by the The entire international community "," otherwise "the situation is likely to deteriorate significantly."
"I accepted the committee's recommendation but that does not mean that we do not take the epidemic seriously," told the press the director general of the WHO, Tedros. "We will not rest until this epidemic is over."
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