This is the 10th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s also the largest and longest ever. More than 2,000 people have died since the outbreak started in August 2018. As part of the UN Ebola emergency response, the Red Cross is working with the World Health Organisation and the ministry of health to help stop the spread of the disease. Infection can occur from touching the bodies of those who have died. This practice is part of traditional burial rituals in eastern DRC, so the rituals need to be modified so that family members can say goodbye to their loved ones without becoming exposed to the virus. The Red Cross has trained specialist burial teams in remote communities to safely bury people who have died of Ebola
Continue reading...Category Archives: Ebola
Alarm over cases of disease with Ebola-like symptoms in Tanzania
World Health Organization frustrated by lack of clinical data sharing, while Tanzania insists its tests show disease is not Ebola
Several unexplained cases of a disease with Ebola-like symptoms in Tanzania have prompted an extraordinary statement from the World Health Organization questioning the response of the country’s health authorities.
WHO warned that lack of information over the cases, including clinical data, possible contacts and potential laboratory tests performed for differential diagnosis of the patients had not been communicated, leaving it unable to assess the potential risk.
Continue reading...Experts warn world ‘grossly unprepared’ for future pandemics
Dire risk is compounded by climate crisis, urbanisation and lack of sanitation, says global monitoring board
It sounds like an improbable fiction: a virulent flu pandemic, source unknown, spreads across the world in 36 hours, killing up to 80 million people, sparking panic, destabilising national security and slicing chunks off the world’s economy.
But a group of prominent international experts has issued a stark warning: such a scenario is entirely plausible and efforts by governments to prepare for it are “grossly insufficient”.
Continue reading...Former minister arrested over alleged mismanagement of Congo Ebola funds
Oly Ilunga detained in connection with $4.3m allocated for fighting the deadly virus
The former health minister for the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been arrested over the alleged mismanagement of $4.3m (£3.4m) dedicated to the Ebola response.
Oly Ilunga, who resigned as health minister in July having been removed from leading the Ebola response by President Félix Tshisekedi, has denied any wrongdoing.
Continue reading...History shows it will take more than technology and money to beat malaria
Hopes of eradicating the disease by 2050 will fail unless we tackle the poverty and weak governance that allow it to thrive
The Lancet Commission on malaria eradication received widespread attention this week with its claim that the disease could be eradicated by 2050. This would be a very welcome achievement, as malaria currently kills about 435,000 people – predominantly children – each year.
The report argues that the key to eradicating malaria is the application of existing and new technology, coupled with £1.6bn extra annual funding. Unfortunately, this solution is unlikely to be successful because it fails to address the underlying causes of malaria: grinding poverty and state incapacity.
Continue reading...Ebola kills girl, 9, in Uganda as outbreak approaches 3,000 cases
Doctors are battling to contain the virus and stop the epidemic spreading from the DRC to Uganda and Rwanda
A nine-year-old Congolese girl who tested positive for Ebola in neighbouring Uganda has died of the disease, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the current outbreak was approaching the grim milestone of 3,000 cases and 2,000 deaths.
Her death makes her the fourth case to cross into Uganda amid the continuing struggle to contain the deadly outbreak.
Continue reading...Congo Ebola outbreak spreads to new province as epidemic continues to spiral
One woman dead after two cases are confirmed in South Kivu’s Lwindi district, near DRC’s border with Rwanda
The year-long Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has spread to a new province, with two cases – one of them fatal – confirmed in South Kivu.
The confirmed cases were reported in the Mwenga area, some way south of the city of Bukavu, which sits on the country’s eastern border with Rwanda.
Continue reading...Ebola now curable after trials of drugs in DRC, say scientists
Congo results show good survival rates for patients treated quickly with antibodies
Ebola can no longer be called an incurable disease, scientists have said, after two of four drugs being trialled in the major outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were found to have significantly reduced the death rate.
ZMapp, used during the massive Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, has been dropped along with Remdesivir after two monoclonal antibodies, which block the virus, had substantially more effect, said the World Health Organization and the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which was a co-sponsor of the trial.
Continue reading...Rwanda closes border with DRC over deadly Ebola outbreak
Closure follows second Ebola death in densely populated city of Goma, on Rwandan border
Rwanda has closed its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a deadly Ebola outbreak that started a year ago has killed more than 1,803 people.
The closure came after a second death linked to the Ebola virus was confirmed on Wednesday in the densely populated Congolese city of Goma, which is on the porous border with Rwanda.
Continue reading...Ebola: second death confirmed in Goma
World Health Organization confirms a second person has died of the disease in a major transit hub in Democratic Republic of Congo
A second death linked to the Ebola virus has been confirmed in the densely populated city of Goma, located at the Democratic Republic of Congo’s porous border with Rwanda.
The first case of Ebola in Goma – an evangelical preacher – contributed to the World Health Organization decision to declare the Ebola crisis in DRC an international public health emergency.
Continue reading...Are motorcycle taxis making the Ebola crisis worse?
The Congolese trading city of Butembo relies on its ‘taxi-motos’ to keep business running, but the taxi unions are resistant to helping government Ebola efforts – and their bikes could be spreading the disease
Swarms of motorcycle taxis overloaded with passengers and goods weave their way through traffic in the eastern Congolese city of Butembo. Motorbikes far outnumber four-wheeled vehicles on the dusty roads of the regional trading hub, especially downtown, where drivers laden with cargo carve their way through crowded street markets.
Continue reading...More of the same won’t solve Congo’s Ebola crisis – let locals lead
As the World Health Organization declares a public health emergency in DRC, frontline responders must be allowed a greater role in response efforts
The Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is already the second deadliest outbreak in history. More than 2,500 cases have been confirmed in DRC and 1,600 deaths have been recorded. The situation is escalating rapidly, with a new case in the transit hub of Goma reported on Sunday.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the crisis a public health emergency of international concern. This raises the stakes and must lead to fundamental changes in the response. The WHO wants more funding to extend and reinforce outbreak control measures, but simply expanding the current approach is unlikely to result in a more effective response.
Continue reading...Ebola virus reaches Congolese city of Goma
Health experts have long feared the virus it could make its way to the city, which is on the Rwandan border
The Ebola virus has reached the Congolese city of Goma, home to two million people, for the first time since the epidemic began nearly a year ago.
The Congolese health ministry said a man who had arrived in the regional centre on Sunday had been quickly transported to an Ebola treatment centre.
Continue reading...Measles vaccination begins in Ebola-hit Congo amid fears of ‘massive loss of life’
Deadly measles outbreak claims almost 2,000 lives, compounding strain on health system already reeling from Ebola
Health workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have launched an urgent measles vaccination campaign in Ebola-hit regions, after almost 2,000 deaths from the preventable disease, two-thirds of them among children under five.
At least 1,981 people died from measles in DRC this year, surpassing the 1,641 deaths from Ebola, according to the UN children’s agency, Unicef. The “unprecedented” humanitarian crisis is putting the health system under strain, UN staff said.
Continue reading...Conflict and insecurity driving spread of diseases like Ebola, WHO chief warns
Deadly outbreak is ‘global wake-up call’, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tells Guardian
The head of the World Health Organization has called the world’s second worst Ebola outbreak a “global wake-up call” to the escalating risk of disease outbreaks spreading from conflict areas neglected by the international community.
Only when there was “fear and panic” in the headlines did the international community put money into responding, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The real issue was a lack of day-to-day funding for preparedness to combat serious epidemics before they become regional or international threats, he said.
Continue reading...Declare Ebola outbreak in DRC an emergency, says UK’s Rory Stewart
On two-day visit, DfID minister says outbreak is heartbreaking and very dangerous
The year-long Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is on the edge of spiralling out of control and the World Health Organization should declare it an international emergency, Rory Stewart, the UK’s international development secretary, has said.
Stewart is on a two-day visit to the DRC visiting emergency health centres and victims of the disease to assess the issues hampering efforts to bring the epidemic under permanent control. So far in the outbreak 2,400 people have contracted the disease and 1,606 have died, according to the WHO.
Continue reading...Sierra Leone faces legal challenge over ban on pregnant schoolgirls
Regional hearing seen as ‘last resort’ in battle to overturn measure that, exacerbated by Ebola, has affected thousands
Sierra Leone is being taken to court over its ban on pregnant girls attending school, which has denied thousands the right to finish their education.
Many girls were orphaned in the west African country’s deadly Ebola outbreak and, as they were left vulnerable and forced to fend for themselves, there was a spike in pregnancies. When schools reopened after the outbreak was contained, the government banned them from attending, to protect “innocent girls” from a bad influence.
Continue reading...‘Most complex health crisis in history’: Congo struggles to contain Ebola
Political, security and cultural complications – not least a refusal to believe that Ebola exists – have thwarted efforts to overcome DRC’s deadly outbreak
Moise Kitsakihu-Mbira has lost his brother, his grandson and 11 other family members to Ebola. When he himself fell sick he sought treatment in secret. His family don’t believe the virus exists and think a man in their village poisoned them.
Refusal to believe in the existence of Ebola is one difficulty for doctors who say the current outbreak of the deadly virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the “most complex public health emergency in history” and warn it could drag on for months.
Continue reading...WHO calls for more funds to fight DRC Ebola outbreak
Panel backs off from declaring international emergency despite spread into Uganda
The World Health Organization has backed off from declaring that an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is an international emergency despite it spreading into Uganda.
After long discussions, a WHO committee ruled that although the outbreak was an emergency for DRC, it did not fit the criteria to be declared a public health emergency of international concern.
Continue reading...Five-year-old boy dies in Uganda as Congo Ebola outbreak spreads
Ugandan authorities confirm two other patients also undergoing treatment as officials consider declaring global health emergency
A five year-old-boy who became the first confirmed Ebola case outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the current outbreak died in Uganda on Tuesday night.
The child’s three-year-old brother and 50-year-old grandmother are also being treated, according to the Ugandan authorities. They have been isolated at a hospital near the Congo border.
Continue reading...