Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of the Congo

This week saw a continued, gradual decrease in the number of new Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases from the hotspots of Katwa and Butembo compared to the previous weeks. However, these encouraging signs are offset by a marked increase in case incidence in Mabalako Health Zone, and especially in Aloya Health Area (Figure 1). While the spread of EVD to new geographic areas remains low, in the health zones of Bunia, Lubero, Komanda and Rwampara, recent reintroduction events illustrate the high risks in previously affected areas. Along with the rise in cases in Mabalako, there was also an accompanying increase in healthcare worker (HCW) and nosocomial infections. These findings highlight the ongoing need to comprehensively strengthen the infection prevention and control measures in the various healthcare facilities operating in these areas. The occurrence of EVD infections in these health areas also place a strain on the already limited security resources needed to facilitate access for effective response activities to continue.

In addition to operational challenges encountered on the ground by healthcare workers during the past ten months, the overall EVD outbreak response effort is confronting substantial difficulty in maintaining scale in the context of a US $54 million funding shortage. Without adequate funding to fill this gap, response activities will be compromised, negatively impacting the entire response, resulting in a drastic reduction in vital health services available and a cessation of operations during a critical time of the outbreak. Member States and other donors are strongly encouraged to help meet this funding gap in order to ensure that hard won progress in containing this EVD outbreak will not suffer a potentially devastating setback due to financial limitations.

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