Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of the Congo

Although this past week continues to bear witness to a steady rise in the number of Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the overall security situation has allowed for the resumption of most response activities. While no major insecurity incidents have occurred, outbreak response teams, local healthcare workers, and community members cooperating with response efforts, are increasingly subjected to threats made against them by armed groups present in hotspot areas such as Katwa and Butembo. These threats are often disseminated through leaflets or direct intimidation. Armed groups’ presence, activities and increasing direct threats against response teams continue to be reported in other EVD affected areas, in particular Lubero, Masereka, Mabalako, Kalunguta, and Vuhovi, resulting in some healthcare workers being unwilling to don personal protective equipment or perform critical Infection Prevention Control (IPC) measures out of fear of violence being levied against them or the healthcare facilities where they operate.

During the past three weeks, reports indicate that transmission remains most intense in seven main hotspot areas: Beni, Butembo, Kalunguta, Katwa, Mabalako, Mandima, and Musienene. Collectively, these health zones account for the vast majority (93%) of the 349 cases reported in the last 21 days between 1 - 21 May 2019 (Figure 1 and Table 1). During this period, new cases were reported from 91 health areas within 15 of the 22 health zones affected to date (Figure 2).

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