The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faced an outbreak of the deadly virus of Ebola. As the Ministry of Public Health said, the virus disease intensified in the Beni health zone, North Kivu province.
The current outbreak of Ebola comes just five months after the end of the most recent outbreak that was detected in the same Kivu province.
Dr John Nkengasong, the Director of Africa CDC, confirmed that the index case is a 3-year-old male, a child who died on 6 October in a local hospital after presenting with haemorrhagic symptoms. Samples collected, tested positive for the Ebola virus at the Goma reference laboratory.
“We see this with great concern as we are going to fight against multiple disease outbreaks in DRC, including, cholera, monkeypox, yellow fever, meningitis and EVD, on top of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr Nkengasong said.
To avoid the spreading of the deadly virus, health teams decontaminated the affected health facility and 100 contacts have so far been identified. The African Union Commission (AUC) has been informed of the outbreak and is ready to offer comprehensive support of all AU organs.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has repurposed five (5) of the existing Africa CDC emergency response team of experts in Goma and Kinshasa to support the ongoing EVD response effort of the Government.
DR Congo health authorities will continue to closely monitor the situation and will work with the government to deploy more emergency response support team of experts, supplies and equipment as needed.
So far, Africa CDC will work closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) to coordinate and align emergency response activities across the region.
