UN humanitarian coordinator calls on DRC to be vigilant even with the end of Ebola epidemic
Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) - The UN humanitarian coordinator in DR Congo, David McLachlan-Karr, has called on the government to be vigilant even after experts said the 11th Ebola epidemic in the province of Equateur in western DR Congo, has ended.
A statement obtained by PANA on Thursday, quoted the UN humanitarian coordination as saying "I call on the Congolese authorities and donors to continue their commitment to strengthening the health system and the resilience of communities."
While calling on partners and Congolese health authorities to remain mobilized to prevent another outbreak of the epidemic, McLachlan-Karr said there is still much to be done.
For him, the risks of resurgence are still present and require an effective and efficient monitoring and alert system. He added that there is the need to take care of orphans and support survivors.
The humanitarian coordinator congratulated the government of the DRC, the World Health Organization as well as all local and international partners who have fought for more than five months against this epidemic, declared on June 1, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He praised the collaboration between the DRC and the Republic of Congo to prevent the disease from crossing the river.
The Congolese Minister of Health, Dr Eteni Longondo, officially declared on Wednesday, in Kinshasa, the end of the 11th Ebola epidemic in the DRC which raged in the province of Equateur, in the north-west of the DR Congo, 42 days after the last negative test of the last patient discharged from the Ebola treatment center (CTE), twice the incubation period of this disease which is 21 days.
The second test of the last confirmed case supported in the CTE came back negative for Ebola on October 6, 2020. The last confirmed case of Ebola was recorded on September 29, 2020.
According to Dr Longondo, the 11th Ebola epidemic had the particularity of spreading to river and lake health zones. This constituted a major logistical challenge in terms of the implementation of response activities in a health system already weakened by previous epidemics and by low community involvement and support for the recommendations of response teams.
Declared on June 1, 2020, 13 health zones out of the 18 in the province of Equateur were affected with a total of 42 health zones out of 284 which reported 130 cases, including 119 laboratory confirmed and 11 probable with a case fatality rate of 42.3%, or 55 deaths, including two members of the nursing staff.
In addition, the cure rate is 57.7%, or 75 people cured. Nevertheless, the high risk of outbreaks of epidemics remains permanent and must serve as a warning signal for the epidemiological surveillance system to be strengthened, he stressed.
The major success factor in the response to the epidemic was linked to the availability of vaccines and specific drugs against the disease and to bringing the advanced care sites closer to the community.
The epidemic is the fifth in greater Ecuador and it occurs two years after a previous epidemic in the same province. The Ebola epidemic which has just ended has occurred in a particular context marked by the spread of the Coronavirus disease pandemic.
-0- PANA KON/TBM/KND/VAO 19Nov2020
