Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have announced a fresh outbreak of the Ebola virus in Kasai Province, where 28 suspected cases and 15 deaths have been recorded.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that the outbreak is concentrated in the Bulape and Mweka health zones in Kasai Province, in the south-central region of the country.
To rapidly scale up the response, an advance team from the country’s Ministry of Health and the global UN health body, WHO, has been deployed.
Symptoms of the rare, but severe, and often fatal illness include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and haemorrhaging.
Samples tested on September 3 at the country’s National Institute of Biomedical Research in the capital Kinshasa confirmed the cause of the outbreak as the Ebola Zaire strain.
A national Rapid Response Team assisted by WHO experts in epidemiology, infection prevention and control, as well as case management, has been deployed to Kasai province.
Communication experts have also been deployed to reach communities and help them understand how to protect themselves.
Additionally, WHO is delivering two tonnes of essential supplies including personal protective equipment, mobile laboratory equipment and medical supplies.
The area is difficult to reach and at least a day’s drive from the provincial capital Tshikapa, with few air links.
“We’re acting with determination to rapidly halt the spread of the virus and protect communities,” Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said.
“Banking on the country’s long-standing expertise in controlling viral disease outbreaks, we’re working closely with the health authorities to quickly scale up key response measures to end the outbreak as soon as possible.”
WHO noted that case numbers could rise further as community transmission continues.
The country already has stocks of treatments and about 2,000 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine prepositioned in Kinshasa, which will be transported to Kasai to vaccinate contacts and frontline health workers.
The last Ebola outbreak in the DRC occurred in April 2022 in Equateur Province, where swift measures helped to contain it within three months.
Kasai Province itself has previously experienced Ebola flare-ups, with recorded outbreaks in 2007 and 2008.
Overall, the DRC has now faced 15 Ebola outbreaks since the disease was first detected in Yambuku, near the Ebola River, in 1976.