New Ebola outbreak in the DRC
A new outbreak of Ebola has been declared in Bikoro in Equateur Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The declaration followed laboratory results that confirmed two cases of the disease. The Ministry of Health of the DRC informed the World Health Organization (WHO) that two out of five samples collected from five patients tested positive for Ebola at the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) in Kinshasa.
WHO said that it is working with the DRC’s Government to reduce loss of life and suffering. “Our top priority is to get to Bikoro to work alongside the Government of the DRC and partners to reduce the loss of life and suffering related to this new Ebola virus disease outbreak,” said Dr Peter Salama, WHO Deputy Director-General, Emergency Preparedness and Response. “Working with partners and responding early and in a co-ordinated way will be vital to containing this deadly disease.”
Upon learning of the lab results, WHO established its Incident Management System to fully dedicate staff and resources across the organisation to the response. WHO plans to deploy epidemiologists, logisticians, clinicians, infection prevention and control experts, risk communications experts and vaccination support teams in the coming days. It will also be determining supply needs and help fill gaps and has alerted neighbouring countries.