DR Congo: 11th day without new confirmed case of Ebola
Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) - The countdown to the declaration of an end to the Ebola virus disease in DR Congo, which began on 14 May 2020, entered its 11th day without a new case, the daily bulletin of the national multi-sectoral committee of response to Ebola sent to PANA here Monday said.
The declaration will be made 42 days after a negative test of the first patient who got out of the Ebola treatment center (ETC), or two times the incubation period of the disease which is 21 days.
The negative test took place on 14 May, 2020. In the meantime, research is continuing on the confirmed case of Ebola on 16 April, 2020, hidden inside the community. The case has already run 37 days after its detection and 41 days after the beginning of its symptoms.
Since the reappearance of the Ebola epidemic in the health zone of Beni, in the province of north-Kivu on 10 April ,2020, seven confirmed cases have been recorded, including four who died.
Altogether, 2,129 people were vaccinated from 11 April to 20 May 2020 among resurgent cases in Beni.
Since the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic on 1 August, 2018, there have been 3,463 cases, including 3,317 confirmed cases and 146 probable cases.
In all, there are 2,280 deaths (2,134 deaths of confirmed cases and 146 deaths of probable cases) and 1,171 cured patients or survivors.
Currently, 386 suspected cases are being investigated. According to the same bulletin, the response activities have been for two days paralyzed in the health zone of Beni in Kasanga and Rwangoma, disrupting the vaccination activities.
DR Congo has already vaccinated 303,905 people against Ebola, with the first vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV from 8 August 2018 to 19 May 2020.
Among the vaccinated are health care providers, contacts and contacts of contacts of patients.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, the total number of travellers controlled (temperature taking) at the health check points, until 22 May 2020, is 177,718,534.
To date, 50 entry and health control points are operational out of the 109 established in the North-Kivu and Ituri provinces in a bid to protect the country’s big cities and avoid the spread of the epidemic to neighboring countries.
-0- PANA KON/TBM/MSA/RA 25May2020
