Ebola Outbreak in Equateur Province Has Ended, W.H.O. Says, July 2018

The outbreak, the first in which a new vaccine was quickly rolled out, was extinguished in less than three months, with 33 deaths.

A health worker in the port of Bangui, Central African Republic, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo, waited to take the temperature of incoming Congolese travellers in June. 
Credit: Florent Vergnes/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

DECLARED OVER ON JULY 24

The Ebola outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of Congo in April was declared officially over on July 24 in what appeared to be twin triumphs for a new vaccine and rapid response.

Just 33 people died, even though the outbreak reached Mbandaka, a river port city of over one million people, where HandUp Congo project partners are based and where our volunteer teams step into the dugout canoes that carry them 300 km to Lotumbe.

At one point, experts had feared the virus might spread throughout Central Africa. 

Three years ago, an Ebola outbreak in West Africa cost more than 11,000 lives. Health agencies were slow to respond, and no vaccine was available until it was nearly over.

The last known case in Congo occurred in early June, and the World Health Organization declared the outbreak “largely contained” three weeks later. Declaring it officially over, however, required waiting 42 days — the length of two viral incubation periods.

We congratulate Dr Bosolo, medical director for a population of more than 800,000 members of the Disciples of Christ Community in Congo. He led an incredible team of people who collaborated with the WHO and the Ministry of Health to raise awareness and work on containment in many rural health clinics, schools and villages. 

Dr Bosolo has provided us with two detailed reports on CDCC’s strategies. If you would like to receive a copy of his reports please contact us at handupcongo@gmail.com.  

Ebola virus disease

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

On 8 May 2018, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD). This is the ninth outbreak of EVD over the last four decades in the country, with the most recent outbreak occurring in May 2017.  

HandUp Congo works closely with the Community of Disciples of Christ in Congo (CDCC) on a range of community development and capacity building projects.

In this instance, we are raising funds to supply CDCC’s frontline healthcare workers in the EVD epicentre of Mbandaka with protective suits, disposable gloves, handwashing stations and medicines for the schools, clinics, churches and hospitals in their community.

You can help in several ways

1)    GoFundMe -  https://www.gofundme.com/containebola

2)    If you are Australian, you can receive tax deductibility when donating through Rotary. Click here to donate to Building a Healthy Congo and designate EBOLA.

3)    If you are American, you can donate through Global Ministries https://www.globalministries.org/cdcc_responds_to_most_recent_ebola_outbreak

To remain informed about this outbreak ... 

PODCAST: A New Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo https://www.undispatch.com/podcast-a-new-ebola-outbreak-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo/ 
 
Ebola Situation Reports -  http://www.who.int/ebola/situation-reports/drc-2018/en/ 
 
WHO Ebola -  http://www.who.int/ebola/en/