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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has recorded six more cases of Ebola over the weekend, including three deaths in the community, which raise further concern about the spread of the disease in the region. .
The new cases bring the total number of outbreaks to 211, including 135 deaths. Twenty-four suspected cases are still under investigation.
On Saturday, the DRC Ministry of Health confirmed two cases in Beni and yesterday recorded two more cases in Beni, one in Masereka and one in Butembo. There are now 104 confirmed or suspected cases from Beni, making this city the new epicenter of epidemic activity.
The current outbreak began in August in Mabalako, the initial hot spot, which to date has 94 confirmed or suspected cases.
"The epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in Beni #DRC is now attributable to a combination of toxic factors that fuel the growing force of infection: acute insecurity limiting access to communities and families affected, chronic distrust of the community after years of conflict, and fears and rumors about #Ebola "Peter Salama, MD, Assistant Director General of Emergency Response to the Organization World Health Organization (WHO), said on Twitter.
According to Salama, 75% of all confirmed cases this month occurred in Beni.
On Oct. 13, the DRC's Minister of Health, Oly Ilunga Kalenga, reviewed the situation in Beni and said that the second wave of cases observed in recent weeks was not among the known contacts identified during the investigations. epidemiological.
Kalenga, however, said the authorities were receiving more and more notifications of possible cases, which means that recent efforts to strengthen surveillance in Beni have been effective.
Community deaths threaten a region
Of the new cases reported yesterday, three were deaths in the community, which means that deaths occurred outside of a health care facility or Ebola treatment center.
The DRC said the three deaths involved dignified and safe burials, but deaths in communities still increase the risk of Ebola virus transmission, as viral loads are often at their highest level at the time of death.
DRC continues to use Merck's unlicensed Ebola vaccine as part of a ring vaccination campaign. Since August 8, 16,973 people have been vaccinated, including 6,832 in Beni.
Tedros convenes an emergency committee
The Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced the holding of a meeting of the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations, to be held Wednesday in Geneva. The purpose of the meeting will be to determine if the current situation in eastern DRC constitutes a public health emergency of international concern and what recommendations should be made to manage the epidemic.
On 28 September, WHO raised the national and regional risk assessment from very high to very high due to persistent security concerns in the region.
Today, Stat announced that US health care staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had been removed from the epidemic area last month due to insecurity. local. According to Stat, the order to dismiss staff came from the state department.
See also:
October 14 update of the DRC
October 13 update of the DRC
Peter Salama Twitter food
Oct 14 Statistics History
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