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With 11 new cases of Ebola confirmed yesterday and today, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo reached 205 cases, while the World Health Organization ( WHO) warned that security problems are worsening and threaten to undermine the response, especially Beni, the main hotspot.
In order to highlight the concerns of the WHO, the DRC Ministry of Health yesterday described how community members had stolen the body of a dead woman in an Ebola treatment center while She went to the cemetery to be buried there, violently pursuing the police before changing police. mind and return the body to the cemetery.
In its update, the Ministry of Health announced that a person infected with the Ebola virus who was working at the headquarters of the intervention in Beni temporarily closed the office so that the location could be disinfected.
Cases greater than 200; last wave mainly in Beni
Of the 11 new cases reported by the Ministry of Health, 6 were yesterday and 5 today. Eight are from Beni, plus one from Masereka, Kalunguta and Mabalako, bringing the total to 205 cases, of which 170 confirmed and 35 classified as probable. The Kalungata case-case corresponds to a death in the community. Seven more deaths were reported, all in Beni, bringing the death toll to 130.
Health officials are still investigating 32 suspected cases of Ebola infection, up from 25 suspected cases two days ago.
In its update yesterday, the DRC said that since early October, the number of new confirmed cases has increased significantly, mainly in Beni. Of the 39 new confirmed cases notified during the first 11 days of October, 32 (82%) came from the city, which recently experienced a conflict between rebel and armed groups, resulting in demonstrations and pockets of community resistance.
Regarding the incident of the cemetery, the Ministry of Health said that the intervention team had made some concessions to the family, allowing a friend to drive the hearse and to five members family to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to carry the woman's casket. As part of the deal with the family, a police vehicle followed the procession to the cemetery.
However, the friend who was driving the hearse suddenly changed course to take the woman to family land in Butsili district, Beni, where local youths violently chased the police and took the body. The group then panicked and returned to the cemetery later in the day, where family members wearing the PPE buried the body.
Yesterday, several family members involved in the incident voluntarily went to the Beni General Hospital to get vaccinated and said that no one had handled the body between the Ebola treatment center and the cemetery. Officials stated that neither the casket nor the funeral bag had been opened. And the residents of the neighborhood where the police were pursued and the body of the woman found held a meeting and apologized to the intervention teams, the young people of the district having promised not to let the situation happen again.
In today's report, the Ministry of Health said that one of the new cases involved a plumber from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC ( MONUSCO) who worked at the headquarters of the coordination of the epidemic in Beni. The plumber is hospitalized in an Ebola treatment center in the city.
Investigators discovered that the man had remained at the center of a traditional healer where a previously confirmed patient with Ebola had been seen before being taken to a Ebola treatment center. Most members of the MONUSCO office response team had been vaccinated, but the team had to leave the headquarters today to be able to disinfect the whole site.
According to the Ministry of Health, the plumber's colleagues volunteered to be vaccinated and were on paid leave for a 21-day period as a precaution.
Total underestimated cases
In its weekly overview of the epidemic, WHO said the latest wave of cases reflected complex challenges faced by stakeholders, such as conflicts between rebel and government forces and pockets of community repression. It notes, however, that part of this increase represents an improvement in community monitoring and reporting.
Alarmingly, of the 29 cases reported since the last WHO update on October 2, 15 came from known transmission chains, but exposures of another 14 are still under investigation. . Unrelated cases known to other patients suggest that the disease circulates undetected in some parts of the affected area, which presents a high risk of spread.
WHO stated that the latest increase in the number of cases probably underestimated the burden of the disease, due to delays in reporting cases, sporadic cases in progress and security problems that hinder the search for cases. contacts and investigation of potential diseases.
Another infection among health workers has been reported since the last WHO update, bringing to 20 the number of cases so far, which includes 3 deaths.
In Butembo, Red Cross security burial teams suspended their activities for an indefinite period following the October 2 raid on volunteers. Civil defense teams are currently occupying burials. However, 32 out of 236 responses failed because of the community's refusal or the burials conducted before the arrival of the teams. Seven alerts were not processed for security reasons.
At the same time, the capacity of burial teams in Beni is being strengthened, due to the expected increase in the number of deaths. The WHO said the mayor of Beni had recently announced that all deaths should be accompanied by a death certificate and that a rapid diagnostic test was being considered as part of the validation of deaths in hospitals and communities.
See also:
Declaration of the Ministry of Health of 11 October
Ministry of Health Statement of 12 October
WHO statement of 11 October
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