DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Medecine Sans Frontieres (MSF) says Ebola outbreak in DRC under control but remain vigilant

Record ID: 730729

  • Title: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Medecine Sans Frontieres (MSF) says Ebola outbreak in DRC under control but remain vigilant
  • Date: 1st October 2007
  • Summary: (W3) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (OCTOBER 1, 2007) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OFFICES OF MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES/ PEOPLE WORKING AT COMPUTERS
  • Embargoed: 16th October 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVA58KMIM6WYPLCSYVLARMC17Z4U
  • Story Text: Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says they are controlling an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo being even able to reach more remote villages where the virus is known to have hit the local population. But they are not out of the woods yet since the incubation period lasts several weeks.
    Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), an independent humanitarian medical agency - based in Switzerland, said in Brussels on Monday (October 1) they had visited all the villages of the Democratic Republic of Congo region affected by the Ebola virus, including villages that were difficult to access, and that they are now fairly confident that they have the epidemic under control.
    But they say it is crucial to remain vigilant since this is a highly contagious virus, which is difficult to identify and for which there is no known cure.
    The Democratic Republic of Congo had said on Friday (September 28) that health experts were managing to contain the spread of the outbreak of deadly Ebola haemorrhagic fever whose confirmed cases have risen to 24.
    MSF said on Monday that the population in the Western Kasai were fairly dispersed and that people did not move very much which could explain why there were not more cases.
    It says there were around 380 suspected cases of Ebola since July and 170 deaths. MSF doctors did not start working on the problem until September.
    Analysis by mobile laboratories set up this week in the affected province found seven more samples that tested positive for Ebola, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 24.
    Only 53 of more than 400 suspected cases have so far been laboratory tested. At least 174 deaths have been linked to suspected Ebola cases in Western Kasai province since April.
    The Kinshasa government group tackling the outbreak, said efforts by Congolese authorities, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and medical relief agencies to halt the spread of the outbreak appeared to be making progress.
    The problem is that doctors have to wait twice the incubation period, or 42 days after the last death, before they can be sure the epidemic is under control and therefore the government says it is still in the middle of an epidemic.
    "It's very important that the population does not panic. People need to be fully aware of how the virus is transmitted and how to protect themselves. The more the population knows about this illness the more then can help us," said Rosa Cretani, an emergency coordinator with MSF.
    "Today, at this moment, we have visited all the villages where there were cases. We monitor, all contacts are regularly followed up and therefore, in principle, we can say the situation is under control but, once again, we must stay extremely vigilant," Ferir says.
    People began falling ill in April in the village of Kampungu, now considered the epicentre of the outbreak. MSF say the epidemic started in July.
    Ebola symptoms begin with fever and muscle pain, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea and, in some cases, bleeding from orifices.
    Ferir says they had succeeded in persuading people to allow them to disinfect the bodies and to use a mortuary bag during the special ceremony to try and minimise the risk of spreading the virus.
    "If people panic, it means that they won't come to the health centres and therefore they will stay at home and that's how they can contaminate their families since the contamination takes place through all the bodily fluids. so there we get contamination and contamination chains, as we say, which can spread. So if the population is scared, that is the kind of reaction it can have which is to hide the patients. If people trust, they will be able to come to the health centres and we will be able to better control the epidemic," Ferir said.
    Congolese authorities have launched a wide-reaching campaign to educate people about the risks of Ebola infection.
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