The World Health Organisation has released $500,000 from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to support the response to the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, announced this at a media briefing on global health issues on Friday.
Ghebreyesus also disclosed that 28 suspected cases and 16 deaths have been reported so far, including four health workers.
He highlighted that the UN body already has staff on the ground in Kasai, with more on the way.
The Ebola outbreak in DR Congo comes at a time when much of Central and West Africa continues to grapple with overlapping health and humanitarian crises, including cholera outbreaks, malnutrition, and displacement.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s last outbreak of Ebola virus disease affected the north-western Equateur province in April 2022. It was brought under control within three months, thanks to the robust efforts of the health authorities. In Kasai province, previous outbreaks of Ebola virus disease were reported in 2007 and 2008. In the country overall, there have been 15 outbreaks since the disease was first identified in 1976.
Ebola virus disease is a rare but severe, often fatal illness in humans. It is transmitted to people through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as fruit bats (thought to be the natural hosts). Human-to-human transmission is through direct contact with blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with or has died from Ebola, objects that have been contaminated with body fluids from a person sick with Ebola, or the body of a person who died from Ebola.
In the ongoing outbreak, it said samples tested on September 3rd (Wednesday) at the country’s National Institute of Biomedical Research in the capital Kinshasa, confirmed the cause of the outbreak as Ebola Zaire caused by Ebola virus disease.
The WHO boss said, “We’re joining rapid response teams to trace contacts and find cases, we’re collecting and testing samples, and we’re providing technical expertise in surveillance, infection prevention and control, treatment, risk communication, and more. WHO has also delivered personal protective equipment, laboratory equipment, medical supplies, and a mobile laboratory.
“We had previously prepositioned 2000 doses of Ebola vaccine in Kinshasa, which we are releasing to vaccinate contacts and health workers. This is the 16th outbreak of Ebola in the DRC, and the government has rich experience from those previous outbreaks.
“I thank the government for its leadership in responding to this outbreak, and for its transparency in rapidly declaring the outbreak and sharing the viral sequence. To fund the response, WHO has released US$500,000 from our Contingency Fund for Emergencies, and we appeal to donors to support the response.”
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