The Ebola outbreak that started in Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur Province in the northwest, less than three months ago has been declared to be over by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was the province’s third outbreak since 2018 and the 14th nationwide.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, along with national emergency teams with more experience in Ebola control, mounted a quick response soon after the outbreak was declared on April 23. They implemented crucial preventative measures like testing, contact tracing, infection prevention and control, treatment, and community engagement. A crucial preventive measure, vaccination, was started only four days after the outbreak was declared.
There were a total of four confirmed cases and one probable case, all of which resulted in death. There were 130 confirmed cases and 55 deaths in the previous outbreak in Equateur Province, which lasted from June to November 2020.
“Thanks to the robust response by the national authorities, this outbreak has been brought to an end swiftly withlimited transmission of the virus,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Crucial lessons have been learned from past outbreaks and they have been applied to devise and deploy an ever more effective Ebola response.”
A total of 2104 people, including 302 contacts and 1307 frontline workers, received vaccinations during the recently ended outbreak. An ultra-cold chain freezer was installed in Mbandaka to help with the vaccination rollout, enabling vaccine doses to be safely stored locally and effectively administered.
Since 1976, there have been 14 Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with six of those outbreaks occurring in the last year.
“Africa is seeing an increase in Ebola and other infectious diseases that jump from animals to humans impacting large urban areas,” said Dr Moeti. “We need to be ever more vigilant to ensure we catch cases quickly. This outbreak response shows that by bolstering preparedness, disease surveillance and swift detection, we can stay a step ahead.”
In order to work closely with communities, decentralise operations to the lowest level, base the response on evidence, and regularly assess the epidemiological risk, WHO assisted the Democratic Republic of the Congo in putting into practise a sound national strategy that was developed early to guide response coordination.
Although the outbreak in Mbandaka has been declared to be over, health officials are still keeping an eye on things and are prepared to act quickly if anything changes. Following an outbreak, sporadic cases are not uncommon.
The illness is severe and frequently fatal, and it affects both humans and other primates. In previous outbreaks, case fatality rates ranged from 25 to 90 percent. However, if patients are treated quickly and receive supportive care, they have a significantly higher chance of surviving with the effective treatments that are currently available.