A 46-year-old woman died on August 15, 2022 in Beni, a city located in North Kivu. He received care at Beni Referral Hospital, initially for other conditions, but then developed symptoms consistent with Ebola virus disease
Both the Beni and Goma branches of the country’s National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) confirmed the Ebola virus in samples taken from the patient. Analyzes showed that the case was genetically linked to the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces—the country’s largest and largest.
“Ebola outbreaks are occurring more frequently in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is worrying. However, health authorities in North Kivu have successfully stopped several Ebola outbreaks and leveraging this expertise will undoubtedly bring control quickly,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa.
WHO staff and health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are working to contain the spread of the disease, having identified 160 contacts whose health is being closely monitored. Investigations are ongoing to establish the vaccination status of the confirmed case.
There are 1000 doses of the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccines available in the country’s stockpile, 200 of which will be sent to Beni this week. Ring vaccination – where contacts and contacts of contacts are vaccinated to limit the spread of the virus and protect lives – is expected to begin soon.
The latest outbreak in North Kivu’s Beni health zone was brought under control in about two months, ending on 16 December 2021. There were 11 cases (eight confirmed, three probable), including six deaths.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO) – Democratic Republic of the Congo.
