Maggie Holderer, Junior
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, there has been another Ebola epidemic declared. As of the 8th of May, three cases have been confirmed (two male and one female, all of which have died), one health zone has been affected, two health areas have been affected, and 583 people have been vaccinated.
On the 8th of May, 221 new cases were recorded and all of them were investigated. 22 of them were validated as suspected cases of Ebola and fifteen were sampled. 111 alerts were from health care facilities, 56 were from the community, 46 were from active research, seven were from entry/control points, and one from contact tracing. At the health care facility, four cases were validated as suspected Ebola cases and were collected.
As for vaccines, in the two operational vaccine rings that also occurred on May 8th, five people were vaccinated, two of which were in Mamenga II and three were in Maman Balako. Vaccinations started on April 7th, 2022, and since then, 582 people have been vaccinated.
There are also other ways that the Democratic Republic of Congo has been preventing and controlling infections. They have provided two hand washing devices at the Mpangi and Naval health posts. Additionally, in Mbandaka, three health care facilities were evaluated with a scoring tool, with the facilities scores varied between 46.5% (HMR ngashi) and 85% (CS Motema Pembe). Moreover, they have been monitoring and supporting service providers in four health care facilities on infection prevention and control and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) themes.
The Congo has also been engaging with the community to stop the spread of Ebola. In the Bokilimba district, the resistance of youth pressure groups has been lifted on public health actions around cases in Mbandaka. Additionally, an educational talk with the widow of a deceased Ebola patient and the spiritual Father of a deceased Ebola patient was organized, emphasizing the importance of the prevention activities. Moreover, 7,035 home visits were organized, during which 12,861 men, 15,180 women, and 2,147 children were made aware of the themes in the fight against Ebola. There is also a continued broadcasting of spots and songs on preventive measures against Ebola.
As part of the Ebola response, the government has also been trying to provide psycho-social care. They have identified and prepared vaccinations for 41 unvaccinated contacts in Motema Pembe. They have also started a widow of an Ebola patient on two therapies, beginning of immersion and relaxation therapies, and they have also given psychological support to affected family members of two Ebola cases. Additionally, there are now twenty-two psychoeducation sessions for 496 participants.
So, what’s next? There are certainly some challenges the government needs to address. There are insufficient resources for a comprehensive response; there is a great risk for spread due to a lot of movement in various provinces, and they have yet to finalize the investigations so that they can figure out the contamination source of the index case. To handle these challenges, there are many things the government could do. To start, they could mobilize resources, which would strengthen response activities. Additionally, they should validate and share a response plan. With regards to the index case, there should be more investigation to establish how the index case became contaminated, and complete a chain of transmission and make an extensive list of any and all confirmed cases. At the local level, the operationalization of isolation centers/sites should be accelerated.
Community engagement is one of the most important factors, however. Community engagement should be strengthened for the best possible implementation of interventions, such as the listing and following-up of contacts, vaccinating, etc. Finally, there should be a way for dealing with suspected Ebola cases intercept at Prevention and Control Sites and admitted to hospitals.
Sources:
file:///media/fuse/drivefs7cb6abc37d0670531d18bd19af77c519/root/sitrep_mve_n012_05052022_equateur_vf.pdf