Ebola Death Toll In Congo Accelerates Despite The Assurance That Everything Will Be Under Control

Ebola health worker under the protection
The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces has recently shown an increase in the number of cases reported by week, after many weeks of the overall decline.

As of 30 April 2019, 0ver 1400 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola virus disease have been reported during this outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). There is no licensed vaccine against Ebola Virus Disease

On 1 August 2018, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a new outbreak of Ebola virus disease in North Kivu Province.

The Ministry of Health, WHO, and partners are responding to this event and working to establish the full extent of this outbreak. Numbers may fluctuate on a daily basis due to many factors, including continuous monitoring, investigation, and reclassification of cases.

Alert and suspected cases (not reported here) are systematically investigated to confirm or exclude Ebola virus disease before inclusion in the case counts or discarded as non-cases.

So-called high efficacy of rVSV-ZEBOV-GP Ebola vaccine

According to authorities, these early vaccination results confirm previous observations of high efficacy of rVSV-ZEBOV-GP Ebola vaccine against the disease. They note that this is an observational study with the inherent methodological limitations.

The ring vaccination strategy works because of the rapid protection after a single dose, and high coverage achieved in the rings (91%). No deaths were reported among vaccinees who developed Ebola with onset 10 or more days after vaccination.

Moreover, the overall case fatality rate was reduced among all vaccinees who developed Ebola. Therefore, there is a high vaccine efficacy against death. But are these figures correct?

Remember, all those positive figures come from the US National Institute of Health NIH, Centers for Disease Control CDC and WHO? And they are involved in the spread of Ebola and aids? And why are over 90 vaccinated healthcare workers contracted Ebola despite a so-called effective vaccine?

Congolese health authorities announced a record 26 deaths for Sunday alone

In the province of North Kivu, “26 new deaths of confirmed cases” were recorded on April 28, indicates the Ministry of Health in its daily bulletin on the epidemiological situation dated Monday.

“All 26 people died on last Sunday, April 28 and this is the first time this figure has been reached,” adds the Ministry of Health. Since the beginning of the epidemic, “in total, there were 957 deaths (891 confirmed and 66 probable) and 411 people healed,” says the ministry.

According to this source, at least 33 health personnel infected during the care of patients are among the deceased.

As of 30 April 2019, a total of 1400 confirmed and probable EVD cases have been reported, of which 957 died. Of the total cases, 56% were female, and 28% were children aged less than 18 years. The number of healthcare workers affected has risen to at least 90 (7% of total cases), including 33 deaths.

This past week witnessed a notable escalation of security incidents surrounding the Ebola virus disease (EVD) response efforts. On 19 April, an attack on a hospital in Katwa by armed militia resulted in the tragic death of Dr. Richard Mouzoko Kiboung, a WHO epidemiologist, and the injury of two other healthcare workers.

To ensure the safety of all outbreak responders, Ebola response activities have been temporarily halted in some high-risk health areas until security measures can be reinforced.

WHO, the UN and the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are actively collaborating to review current strategic and operational security measures to ensure the protection of healthcare workers in the field and improve effectively coordination and information sharing amongst all security elements covering the response.

Existing operational security measures continue to be implemented and strengthened as well, including the establishment of security perimeters around the residences of EVD response personnel, increasing security at fixed locations, enhancing the joint quick response team (QRT) capacities of local police and UN security forces, and ensuring staff compliance with tracking procedures and adherence to curfew.

These measures and other security risk management processes will be continually updated to reflect the needs of the evolving security situation on the ground.

In addition to revising security measures, efforts in community outreach through direct dialogue with various community leaders are also being intensified.

Since January, there has been a notable increase in community resistance incidents, primarily around Katwa and Butembo. Incidents in April are anticipated to reach or go beyond March levels.

As gaining community understanding and acceptance is integral to our ability to mount an effective outbreak response, community engagement efforts remain a significant element of our response to alleviate future security risks to healthcare workers, develop and increase local community capacity to ensure continuity of response operations, and improve the overall security situation in EVD hotspot areas.

In the 21 days between 3 – 23 April 2019, 62 health areas within 11 health zones reported new cases; 42% of the 147 health areas affected to date. During this period, a total of 255 confirmed cases were reported from Katwa (132), Butembo (29), Vuhovi (29), Mandima (21), Beni (15), Mabalako (9), Kalunguta (6), Musienene (6), Masereka (5), Oicha (2), and Kyondo (1).