On Monday, the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) is launching an Ebola vaccination programme in a bid to stop the latest outbreak from spreading.
The UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) puts the death toll at 25, with three new cases in the country’s northwest, confirmed by the country’s Health Minister.
Alarm bells sounded after the first confirmed case of Ebola reported in Mbandaka in the DRC last week.
The first wave of immunisations will target health care staff in the northwest, who have had direct or indirect contact with ill patients.
“It’s concerning that we now have cases of Ebola in an urban centre but we’re much better placed to deal with this outbreak than we were in 2014. I am pleased to say that vaccination is starting as we speak today,” said WHO’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus -Director General.
The outbreak is Congo’s ninth since the disease made its first known appearance near the vast central African country’s northern Ebola river in the 1970s.
On the advice of the IHR Emergency Committee, I have decided not to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on #Ebola in #DRC at this moment. WHO advises against travel & trade restrictions on DRC, which needs our support & solidarity https://t.co/SC5BXIUJmu pic.twitter.com/TCKZOOK7W8
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 18, 2018
An Ebola epidemic killed more than 11,300 people in West Africa in 2013 to 2016. Ebola is both lethal and highly contagious, which makes it difficult to contain especially in urban environments where people are mobile and come into more contact with others.
On Saturday Health Minister Oly Ilungao said three new cases were confirmed in Mbandaka. He said in total, 43 cases of haemorrhagic fever have been flagged in the region of which 17 are confirmed, 21 are probable and five are suspected cases.
WHO has dispatched 35 immunisation experts, including 16 mobilised during the last deadly outbreak in West Africa which began in 2013.
The rest of the team is made up of newly trained Congolese staff. Donors had promised 300,000 doses of the vaccine of which around 5,400 have already been received.
