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CASES of Ebola virus have doubled in a week, with health authorities locking down multiple towns in an effort to contain the “crisis”.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared an Ebola outbreak last week after cases of the eye-bleeding disease were detected in the towns of Bulape and Mweka, in the southern Kasai Province.
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Suspected case numbers stood at 28 last week, but they have more than doubled to 68, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said at an online briefing on September 11.
Ngashi Ngongo, the agency’s incident management lead, said suspected cases include several people who died before the Ebola outbreak was identified
The current death toll stands at 16, officials added.
But the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said as many as 20 people are thought to have died.
Four of the people who died were health workers, the agency added.
Currently, nine are receiving medical care, four of whom are in critical condition.
Responders are racing to identify people that have come into contact with infected patients.
So far they have identified 401 case contacts, and 398 of them are under follow-up, Dr Ngongo said.
Meanwhile, the virus has spread to two more districts, Mushenge and Dekese.
Africa CDC said the spread of cases into more districts raises the risk of cross-border transmission, especially to neighbouring Angola.
In Kasai, residents have been placed under confinement, the province’s governor said in a statement Monday.
Local officials have erected multiple checkpoints along the border to prevent people from travelling in or out of the area.
Francois Mingambengele, administrator of the Mweka territory which includes Bulape, told Reuters: “The problem is that we’re afraid that the movement of people from Bulape could lead to contamination in other communities.
“Some are going into the bush to hide. It’s a crisis, and cases are multiplying.”
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Ebola is a rare but serious disease causing vomiting and diarrhoea, rashes, kidney and liver failure, and bleeding into the whites of the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
It can kill up to 90 per cent of its victims.
The outbreak was announced a week ago, after a pregnant woman was confirmed to have been infected in the locality of Bulape.
She went to Bulape General Reference Hospital on August 20 with a high fever, bloody stool, excessive bleeding and weakness.
She died five days later from organ failure and testing on September 4 confirmed she had Ebola.
This is the sixteenth outbreak of Ebola to strike the DRC since it was first identified in the region in 1976.
The last one occurred three years ago.
A previous outbreak between 2018 and 2020 in eastern Congo killed more than 1,000 people.
How does Ebola spread?
The virus is transmitted through direct contact with blood and body fluids and objects that have been contaminated by someone with Ebola.
It also spreads through contact with sick or dead wild animals.
It can take symptoms two to 21 days to appear following infection – this is known as an incubation period.
Ebola first manifests as a high fever, intense muscle and joint pain, headaches and a sore throat.
Initial symptoms are often followed by vomiting and diarrhoea, rashes on the skin, kidney and liver failure, and sometimes internal and external bleeding.
People who survive the virus can suffer from arthritis as well as vision and hearing problems.
Some types of Ebola can be prevented with vaccines and treated with medicines.
Source: World Health Organisation
The World Health Organization (WHO) sent experts alongside Congo’s Rapid Response Team to Kasai to strengthen disease surveillance, offer treatment and monitor infection prevention and controls.
It said today (September 12) that it will be difficult to contain cases unless the right steps are taken within the next two weeks.
Containing the outbreak is “possible, but it will be challenging if we miss the window of opportunity,” WHO Programme Area Manager Patrick Otim told a Geneva briefing, calling for more support for the government and other partners.
“We have the expertise, DRC has the expertise, but we need to be able to get the people and supplies into place and we need to be able to pay for the operations.”
The Kasai province is a remote area with limited transportation networks.
This may lower the risk of the outbreak spreading to other areas but also makes it challenging for responders to reach patients.
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The DRC is currently facing several outbreaks, including mpox, cholera and measles, according to the WHO.
“WHO assesses the overall public health risk posed by the ongoing outbreak as high at the national level, moderate at the regional level and low at the global level,” it said.
Vaccines are being transported to affected regions to be dished out to frontline health workers and people who came into contact with patients.
The WHO has also airlifted 12 tonnes of outbreak control materials including personal protective equipment, patient isolation materials, water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to support clinical care and protect frontline health workers.
Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said: “The affected localities are hard to reach.
“We are working round the clock to rapidly roll out response measures to ensure robust outbreak control to stop the virus from spreading further and save lives.”
Earlier this year, another Ebola outbreak was declared in Uganda, with 12 confirmed cases and two probable, as well as four deaths.
The outbreak was declared over in April.
A vaccine to combat the disease was only widely approved in 2019.
Meanwhile, scientists The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston recently formulated a pill that offers ‘100 per cent protection’ against Ebola.
Thomas Geisbert, a virologist who lead the new study, told AFP: “We’re really trying to come up with something that was more practical, easier to use, that could be used to help prevent, control, and contain outbreaks.”
