A new epidemic of Ebola haemorrhagic fever has been officially announced in the north-west of the DRC, while the East is currently very affected by the virus.
- A new outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever has already claimed 4 lives in northwestern DRC
- This is the eleventh Ebola outbreak in this country since 1976.
- The natural reservoir of Ebola would be the bat
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is facing its eleventh outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, following the detection of a new focus of cases in the northwest of the country, even though the tenth epidemic is still ongoing in the country. ‘East. Eight cases and four deaths have been recorded in a district of Mbandakaannounced the Minister of Health, Eteni Longondo, who plans to go there in the coming days.
“The National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB) has just confirmed to me that the samples from Mbandaka are positive for Ebola virus disease”, he said, adding that drugs and the vaccine would be sent to them quickly. Two unlicensed vaccines have indeed been used on more than 300,000 people in the east of the country.
Other probable cases were detected. The province of Equateur has already been affected by the virus between May and July 2018 with 54 confirmed cases and 33 deaths: “This is a province that has already experienced the disease. They already have reflexes of what to do. They have already started the response at the local level since yesterday.”
A virus transmitted by bats
Since the reappearance of the virus on August 1, 2018 in the country, 2,280 people have died, making this new epidemic wave of Ebola the second most serious in history. Discovered during a first epidemic outbreak in 1976, the Ebola virus is manifested by symptoms flu-like: fever, intense fatigue, muscle aches, sore throat and headache. The disease progresses rapidly causing vomiting, diarrhea, skin rashes, kidney and liver damage and in some cases, internal and external bleeding.
The natural reservoir of the Ebola virus would be the bat: “Fruit bats are likely the natural hosts of the Ebola virusExplain the Pasteur Institute. The virus does not make them sick but it becomes pathogenic when other wild animals in the tropical forest are infected (monkeys, etc.). Humans become contaminated by handling these animals (bushmeat, butchering, etc.). The virus then spreads in populations through human-to-human transmission.”
What makes this virus particularly difficult to eradicate is that it can still be transmitted via semen several months after the patient has recovered. “Funeral rites during which the relatives of the deceased are in direct contact with the remains also greatly increase the risk of transmission of the Ebola virus..”
Coronavirus, measles and cholera
The DRC must also deal with the epidemic of Covid-19 (3,195 cases, including 2,896 in Kinshasa, and 72 deaths) which is gaining ground in Africa. As in April, Unicef published an alarming report on the measles and cholera epidemics which are killing thousands of children in this country.
Measles has infected 332,000 people since the start of 2019: more than 6,200 victims have been identified, of which approximately 85% were children under 5 years old. Thirty-one thousand cases cases of cholera were also counted, of which 45% were children. “About 16.5 million cases of malaria were identified in 2019, resulting in nearly 17,000 deaths. Children under 5 are the most severely affected by the disease.”
Many health facilities lack access to safe water and sanitation services. There is also a lack of equipment, trained personnel and financial means. Unicef therefore calls for international solidarity while the health system of the DRC is in a situation of extreme precariousness.
