In the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the last few months, there has been a consistent decline in the number of confirmed Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases. The peak of the current epidemic was in late April 2019, with 120 new cases in one week. Last week, only 12 cases were reported. Humanitarian and Government actors are continuing their contract tracing and health education activities in order to break the remaining EVD transmission chains and end this outbreak.
All of the cases last week has transmission chains to the Mandima Health Zone, but only one of the 12 cases was reported in this area, highlighting the continued risk of disease spread.
Over the last three months, there has been a steady decrease in confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the peak of the epidemic in the last week of April 2019, 120 cases were reported. In the week of 4 to 10 November 2019 only 12 cases were reported. Teams are building on this progress by enhancing efforts to thoroughly investigate all new cases and improving contact tracing in order to break the remaining transmission chains. Eleven of the 12 newest cases were known contacts linked to an already confirmed EVD patient.
Contact tracing is a hugely important activity in limiting the spread and impact of EVD. Whilst contact tracing had been tracking at 98 percent, a recent increase in contacts resulted in the amount being traced reducing to 78 percent.
There are still 15 EVD-affected health areas and five health zones responding to the EVD, with the main hotspots remaining Mabalako, Mandima, and Beni. So far there have been 3,287 confirmed EVD cases with a case fatality rate of 67 percent (2,193 deaths). 56 percent of confirmed cases were female (1,864) and 28 percent (929) were children. So far 163 health workers have contracted EVD.
Yesterday, and for the first time, the World Health Organisation prequalified an EVD vaccine. This “prequalification” means that the vaccine meets WHO standards for quality, safety and efficacy. The injectable EVD vaccine, Ervebo, has been shown to be effective in protecting people from the EVD and is recommended by the WHO as part of a broader EVD response in DRC.