News About Congo

Ebola Traced to the Fruit Bat

The source of the Ebola disease would be a welcome discovery. 

The last two outbreaks of Ebola was located in the (DR) Congo.  Those two outbreaks were located in the Kasai Occidental Province.  The epicenters were not located within the Bulape Health Zone.  But they were close enough to affect health care measures.

For me, it has been too close for comfort.

Virus Hunters Find Ebola, Marburg Source in Fruit Bat (Update1) - Bloomberg.com.

Scientists are closing in on the source of Ebola and Marburg, two of the world’s most-lethal infectious diseases.

Marburg hemorrhagic fever was recognized in 1967, when outbreaks occurred in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Cases were traced to African green monkeys imported for research and polio vaccine production. Nine years later, a closely related virus was found to have sparked a deadly outbreak near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire.

Poor Rural Congolese Must Change Their Practices To Prevent Ebola

After the second Ebola outbreak in 18 months, poor rural Congolese must change their practices.  The fight for basic survival will hinder making these changes.

Ebola outbreak “under control”

An epidemic of the haemorrhagic Ebola fever reported in Mweka and Luebo health zones in the southern province of Kasai Occidental is over, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) health ministry said.

Some 32 cases, including 15 deaths, had been reported since 15 December, ministry spokesman Augustin Mopipi Mukulumania said on 16 February.

Mathieu Kamwa, WHO representative in DRC, said no cases of the disease had been reported in the past 42 days. The last infected person died on 1 January and the period since then is more than double the maximum incubation period for Ebola.

He called for the sensitisation of local communities about the disease. "The local populations must change certain practices," he told IRIN, citing the collection of carcasses of dead animals, poor hygiene and the consumption of monkey meat.

Ebola Outbreak in Congo - It's Not Over Until the Fat Lady Sings

The last patient with Ebola died on January 1st.  And 21 days have passed without another death.  So, those patients being observed in the isolation center were discharged.  The fat lady begins to warm up to sing the final chorus to signal to break camp and shut down operations.

STOP!  A man was found in the bush with suspected symptoms.  His blood specimen were sent out for testing.  Until the results the test results are returned, the fat lady will return to her seat.

  

DRC Ebola Outbreak is Under Control; Patients Discharged

All patients have been discharged from the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) isolation center in Kampungu, Western Kasai province, in central Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where they were being monitored for Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The patients no longer presented symptoms and were in good overall health.

Since the last confirmed Ebola patient died, on January 1, all suspected patients' samples were analyzed and tested negative. Patients who were brought into the isolation center stopped presenting symptoms after a few days and no casualties occurred. The three patients who were admitted last week were also discharged as their tests came back negative.

New Ebola Cases Identified

Doctors without Borders (MSF) have found seven additional cases of Ebola.  That's not a good indication for the future.

The Times - 7 new Congo Ebola cases.

SEVEN more people have tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus in Congo, bringing the toll of suspected and confirmed cases to 46, according to the medical group Doctors Without Borders.

Death Toll inches up to 14 people die of Ebola

How many deaths could have be prevented with better health care and quicker diagnosis?

14 people die of Ebola in DR Congo_English_Xinhua.

A total of 14 people have died of Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since November 2008, Health Minister Mopipi Mukulumanya said on Friday.

Mukulumanya said in the western Kasai province, 43 people have been infected with Ebola and 199 others were under observation.

Symptoms of Ebola begin with fever and muscle pain, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

The minister called for the strengthening of health care, and report cases of Ebola immediately.

Ebola is transmitted through contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people. It is one the deadliest viruses in the world, killing 50 to 90 percent of its victims.

World Health Officials are concerned about Ebola

What has alarmed the World Health Organization?  I believe it is second outbreak of Ebola in about 17 months.

African Press Agency - Item.

The World Health Organization (WHO), Tuesday, expressed worries over the latest outbreak of Ebola virus in the south-central region of Democratic Republic of Congo.

The deadly hemorrhagic fever had already caused over a dozen deaths with another 36 suspected life threatening cases, according to official sources here.

The WHO officials, in conjunction with Doctors Without Borders and other health-related groups, have rushed into the region in hopes of stopping the outbreak by setting up isolation units for the sick and monitoring those who might be infected.

MSF Works To Stop Spread of Ebola in Western Kasai

I have not heard anything from the Bulape Hospital since the outbreak.  During the last outbreak in 2007, Bulape Hospital had to quarantine some extended-family members of an Ebola victim.

We pray that the Ebola outbreak will be contained soon.  The "All Clear" signal will not be declared until 45-60 days after the last patient is isolated and recovered.

DRC: MSF Works To Stop Spread of Ebola in Western Kasai (12/31/08) | Doctors Without Borders.

The number of people with suspected Ebola hemorrhagic fever in the Mweka district of Western Kasai Province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is now 38, including 12 who have died. This is the second outbreak of its kind in just over a year in Western Kasai; the current outbreak claimed its first life on November 27.

Last week, international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), sent a team of expert medical and non-medical staff to the area. A team of 16 are now working around the clock to contain this deadly epidemic.

MSF built a small isolation unit in Kaluamba, the worst-affected village in Mweka district. Here, to reduce the risk of the virus spreading, patients who are already sick, along with others who are suspected of having Ebola, are separated from the community and cared for. Currently, there are two patients in this special ward.

Death Toll from Ebola is now 12

Doctors with Borders (MSF) says 12 persons have died from the Ebola Outbreak near Mweka.  It appeared to have spread to other isolated villages.

Bloomberg.com: Africa.

Ebola hemorrhagic fever, one of the most feared infectious diseases, may have killed 12 people and infected at least 26 others, in an area of the Democratic Republic of Congo where a deadly outbreak occurred 15 months ago, a medical aid organization said.

Ebola infections may be occurring in ``new pockets'' in the Mweka district of Western Kasai Province, said Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders. The current outbreak claimed its first life on Nov. 27, the Geneva-based group said in an e-mailed statement today.

No New Deaths From Ebola

This is good news!

The outbreak appears to be fallen.  No new cases or death have been reported.  Also, it appears just plain old extreme poverty conditions maybe causing some of the deaths.

News | Africa - Reuters.com.

GENEVA, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday that no deaths from the Ebola virus had been confirmed in a reported outbreak of the disease in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Spokesman Gregory Hartl said that of 35 suspected cases -- including 11 deaths -- in Western Kasai province, only two were confirmed as Ebola, and both these patients were still alive.

"It seems pretty certain that other diseases are also involved," he told Reuters. Strigellosis, a relatively easily treated bacterial disease like cholera, was likely to be one of these, the spokesman added.

On Dec. 25, DRC Health Minister Auguste Mopipi Mukulumanya said analysis of blood and stool samples taken in the village of Kalwamba at the heart of the apparent outbreak had shown that an Ebola epidemic was under way.

The virus, which is highly contagious and causes vomiting, diarrhoea and, in many cases, both internal and external bleeding, was reported in the area on Nov. 27.

Death Total Inches Up to 11 in Ebola Outbreak

This outbreak appears it will be not as bad as in 2007.  This same area experienced 26 deaths between August and September 2007.

AFP: Two more dead from Ebola outbreak in DR Congo: MSF.

Two more people have died from an Ebola outbreak in central DR Congo, bringing the tally to 11 dead from the highly contagious but rare disease, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Sunday.

"This Sunday morning, a women with symptoms... of Ebola died," MSF spokesman Francois Dumont told AFP.

A man also died from Ebola on Thursday, he said.