Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo; Kivu Ebola Outbreak

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a highly infectious, acute and lethal viral disease characterized by a fatal haemorrhagic fever.

We must have heard about the case of a viral infection outbreak that occurred in West Africa precisely Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. It lasted from 2014 to mid-2016 to claim the lives of more than 11,000 people. Yes, that was EVD and it's back. But this time, it's in DR Congo.

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The Kivu Ebola outbreak began on the 1st of August, 2018 when four victims tested positive for EVD in the Northern region of Kivu, DR Congo. Thereafter, the number of cases has increased rapidly uptil now.
The disease has struck two of Congo’s north-eastern provinces, North Kivu and Ituri, a conflict zone where people have lived in fear of armed militias, the police and soldiers for decades. The most heavily affected areas are urban, with a surrounding population of about one million.
Unfortunately, this is the 10th outbreak DR Congo has had in 40 years and it has been the worst that has hit the country so far being second only to the aforementioned outbreak that occurred in West Africa.

According to Dr. Robert R. Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said, "Let’s not underestimate this outbreak, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is not yet under control and could continue for another year".

I would have faulted his comment because he wasn't very optimistic, but the figures and happenings on ground says it all.

• The outbreak has lasted for 8 months and is still severe.

• More than 600 cases have been confirmed as at January, 2019 and as at 2nd of April, 2019, the figures have worsened.
  1100 cases have been recorded, 1034 confirmed, 690 lives have been lost and over 300 have recovered thanks to early diagnosis ... - WHO

• The community doesn’t trust its own leaders and it sure doesn’t trust outsiders.
  The workers are trying to address this problem by speaking with community leaders and offering the testimony of those who recovered.

• Although health workers slowly build trust with local people, many patients arrived in treatment centers too late - an often deadly delay because the incubation period of the virus is 21 days and chance of survival has plummeted.

• To worsen the matter, political war is also happening amidst the outbreak - an issue concerning the long-delayed 2016 presidential election or otherwise.
  In the past two months, five Ebola centers have been attacked, some by armed militias. This led to the suspension of the activities of the French medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in two of the most affected areas i.e. North Kivu and Ituri.

• With the current devastating situation, it would be sad to say that not everyone in the vicinity is aware about EVD.

WHO Risk Communication and Community Specialist, Ghislaine Kahindo Katungu said, "I noticed that many children don’t fully understand Ebola, that's why I decided to go from school to school to raise children’s awareness about the disease."
So far, WHO has visited 100 schools in the community.

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During an interview in March, WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged that any of the challenges that lie ahead could undo the gains achieved so far in controlling the spread of the Ebola virus, but he said enough progress has been made to believe the Ebola outbreak in Congo can be shut down in six months’ time.
Source

And I hopefully pray this comes to pass.

Reference:

1. https://www.who.int/ebola/en/
2. https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1RD2TV
3. https://www.who.int/csr/don/28-march-2019-ebola-drc/en/
4. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/16/health/ebola-congo-cdc.html