Building trust and laboratory testing at the heart of DRC’s response to Ebola: WHO

This fast-spreading outbreak, which has also spread to neighboring Uganda, is caused by the rare and deadly Bundibugyo species. Ebolavirus. WHO Director of Health Emergency Warning and Response Operations, Dr Abdirahman Mahamud, told journalists in Geneva that as of June 8 in Congo, there were 550 confirmed cases and 101 deaths.

“Good news [is]we have had 19 patients recover cumulatively, so early identification and treatment saves lives,” he said.

Speaking from Bunia in Ituri Province, which accounts for 94 per cent of the country’s total cases, Dr Mahamud explained that the increase in confirmed cases was “due to increased testing”. More decentralized laboratories have been opened to speed up analysis of suspected Ebola samples, including a fully functional facility in Mongbwalu, he said.

Uganda has reported 19 confirmed cases including two deathsas well as one possible deceased individual. WHOsaid that so far there is no evidence of community transmission in Uganda.

Very small chance

In the DRC as of June 6, 5,040 contacts had been identified and were being followed up in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. Improved contact tracing has enabled health workers to reach 62 per cent of contacts so far, with hopes of reaching the target of 90 to 95 per cent “in the coming weeks”, Dr Mahamud said. He described “slow and steady progress” as based on building trust and working with the community.

The WHO official emphasized that local health workers play an important role in early identification and referral of cases to treatment centers. He described the current system as “a well-functioning and integrated system from surveillance to contact tracing to treatment centers and laboratories”, as well as efficient data sharing.

However, major challenges remain, including in remote locations with limited connectivity, where samples may take eight hours to reach the laboratory.

“Turi, North and South Kivus combined is as big as France,” said Dr Mahamud. “In Bunia, the results can come back in an hour or two,” while for places far from testing facilities, the process can take 24 hours.

In a positive development, in the remote Aru area near the Ugandan border, where samples must travel 10 hours by road for testing, a laboratory will be operational on Friday, he said.

So far WHO has set up field laboratories in the five affected regions, under Congo’s leadership, to allow testing to be carried out closer to the epicenter of the outbreak.. Working with partners to support Government-led efforts, the UN health agency has deployed more than 100 personnel to Congo, delivered 40 tonnes of medical equipment and supplies, and helped set up an Ebola treatment center.