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In its update, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that in the last 21 days, infection cases fell by around 26 percent in Ituri province and 15 percent in Haut Uele province.
However, in the same period, North Kivu province recorded an increase of 73 percent, which clearly shows improvement Ebola The Bundibugyo outbreak has different transmission profiles in the seven affected provinces that have been confirmed.
“Even though cases and theft are decreasing in some provinces, in others the numbers continue to increase,” said WHO Regional Emergency Director for Africa, Dr Marie Roseline Belizaire.
“These patterns show that this outbreak is still not under control and is still spreading over a wide geographic area. One of our biggest concerns is that many people are still dying before receiving treatment.”
Dr Belizaire explains that one in three cases of new infections were only identified after people died outside Ebola treatment centersin the community.
“These are lives that could potentially be saved through early detection and timely access to care,” the WHO medical officer said, adding that each death in the community increases the risk of further transmission among family members, caregivers and others involved in traditional burial practices.
Children are most at risk
Although adults account for the majority of confirmed cases of infection, children under five years of age (toddlers) have the highest case fatality rate, at more than 60 percent, compared to around 40 percent for adults.
Ebola infection in children under 5 years of age has proven particularly difficult to detect because they “are not as well able to describe the signs and symptoms as well as adults, and the picture (of symptoms) may be confusing,” added WHO medical officer Dr. Catherine Smallwood.
Young people also account for a disproportionate share of deaths in communities and in health facilities where Ebola is not diagnosed in a timely manner.
“We must do more to identify sick children early and ensure that they receive appropriate treatment without delay; early detection can save lives,” stressed Dr Belizaire, in an online update from Kinshasa.
Ongoing efforts to improve responses to disease outbreaks have contributed to higher success in tracing contacts of infected people, which now stands at nearly 88 percent.
But “too many new infections are still being detected with no known epidemiological link; closing surveillance gaps is critical, and we must detect cases early, trace their contacts, and break any chains of transmission,” stressed Dr. Belizaire.
Expanding response
The UN agency and its partners continue to expand their reach in affected provinces, with nearly 1,400 treatment and isolation beds in 49 Ebola treatment centers. In addition, there are 25 laboratories capable of processing up to 2,500 tests every day.
However, infrastructure alone will not stop the outbreak, he said.
“Our response is no longer simply about expanding coverage everywhere; it is about directing teams, expertise and resources to areas where transmission is highest and risk is highest.”
Speaking from Beni in North Kivu, WHO’s Dr Smallwood highlighted the “massive mobilization” of responders in recent weeks, in response to the worrying spread of infections in rural areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
However, even though beds in new health centers or Ebola treatment centers are becoming available every day, “the biggest challenge right now is finding partners who can work in those health facilities… The human resources gap is one of the biggest gaps,” Dr. Smallwood explained.
WHO medical officers underscored the need to shift the response “from the major urban centers of Beni, Butembo and Katwa in North Kivu to remote villages in the province.
“The distance is very far and patients need to be referred to the city center for a long time,” he said. “So, we really need to prioritize decentralizing the response to cases that occur in villages and to regions.”
Ebola Facts
Ebola is a severe and often fatal disease that attacks humans and other primates.
This virus is transmitted to humans through wild animals (such as fruit bats, hedgehogs, and non-human primates); the disease then spreads to the human population through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or other body fluids of infected people. This disease can also be transmitted through contact with bedding or clothing contaminated with these fluids.
The average death rate from Ebola is around 50 percent, According to WHO. Case fatality rates have varied from 25 to 90 percent in previous outbreaks.
The first Ebola outbreak occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests.
The 2014–2016 outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976.
There have been more cases and deaths in this outbreak than in all other outbreaks combined. The disease also spread between countries, starting in Guinea then crossing land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
