Ebola outbreak that killed 33 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo is OVER after thousands were given an experimental vaccine, health officials confirm
- Due to vaccinating more than 3,300 residents with an experimental jab
- Declaration was made after 42 days with no new Ebola cases in the DRC
- Health minister praises ‘speed and effectiveness’ in responding to the virus
- Fears were raised when Ebola spread to a city with over one million residents
- Expert warns Ebola is endemic to the Congo and will likely return
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The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) latest outbreak of deadly Ebola is over, its health ministry has announced.
Experts claim vaccinating more than 3,300 residents with a still-experimental jab helped to contain the outbreak, which was declared in early May in northwest Equateur province.
DRC’s health minister Dr Oly Ilunga Kalenga said: ‘Although the scale of the crisis we were facing was unprecedented, the speed and effectiveness of the response put in place by the Government and its partners were also exceptional.’
Fears were raised when the virus spread to the city of Mbandaka, which has more than one million residents, as well as to hard-to-reach rural areas.
Yet after 42 days with no new confirmed cases, the outbreak, which killed 33 people, has been declared over.
Although a cause for celebration, Dr Stacey Mearns, senior health coordinator of the International Rescue Committee’s emergency response team, added: ‘It’s always good to see the end of an outbreak, but it’s certainly not the end of Ebola in Congo. Ebola is endemic here.’
The Ebola outbreak began in the poorly-connected region of Ikoko-Impenge and Bikoro. It then travelled 80 miles (130km) north to Mbandaka. There were fears it would spread to Kinshasa –364 miles (586km) south on the river, where 12 million people live
‘A great relief’
Local resident Dominique Ekila, 44, said: ‘It’s a great relief for us.
‘Since May, I had stopped traveling to Equateur province to sell fish. With this announcement I will soon plan my next trip.’
Esther Mavinga, who sells vegetables in Kinshasa, added: ‘We were very worried that this epidemic would come to Kinshasa. The God we prayed to heard our prayers and spared us.’
Dr Ibrahima Soce Fall, regional emergencies director in Africa for the World Health Organization (WHO), called DRC’s response vastly improved after the devastating outbreak in West Africa that killed more than 11,300 people between 2014 and 2016.
HAS THE DRC HAD AN EBOLA OUTBREAK BEFORE?
DRC escaped the brutal Ebola pandemic that began in 2014, which was finally declared over in January 2016 – but it was struck by a smaller outbreak last year.
Four DRC residents died from the virus in 2017. The outbreak lasted just 42 days and international aid teams were praised for their prompt responses.
The new outbreak is the DRC’s ninth since the discovery of Ebola in the country in 1976.
Health experts credit an awareness of the disease among the population and local medical staff’s experience treating for past successes containing its spread.
DRC’s vast, remote geography also gives it an advantage, as outbreaks are often localised and relatively easy to isolate.
WHO, which was criticised for its slow response a few years ago, went through a ‘profound reform’ after the former outbreak, which included giving $2 million towards treatment efforts, Dr Fall added.
‘Worst case scenario’ played out
Speaking of the virus’ spread to Mbandaka, Dr Kalenga said: ‘From the start, we had prepared for the worst of scenarios. And our fears were quickly confirmed’.
Mbandaka sits on the Congo River, upstream from the capital Kinshasa and its 10 million residents.
This promoted concerns the virus would spread not only within DRC but also to its neighboring nations including Central African Republic.
There is no specific treatment for Ebola, which is spread via contact with the bodily fluids of those infected, including the dead.
The virus can be fatal in up to 90 per cent of cases, depending on the strain.
Where did the outbreak begin?
The most recent Ebola outbreak began in the poorly-connected region of Ikoko-Impenge and Bikoro – in the north east of the DRC.
It then travelled 80 miles (130km) north to Mbandaka, a port city on the river Congo – an essential waterway – with around 1.2 million inhabitants.
There was a ‘major concern’ it would spread to Kinshasa – 364 miles (586km) south on the river, where 12 million people live.
The capital of the DRC has an international airport with regular flights to the European cities Zurich, Frankfurt and Brussels.
International help flooded in as aid workers desperately battles to contain the outbreak. A mass vaccination campaign also began (Pictured: a lab worker uses a microscope at the health centre in Wangata during a vaccination campaign)
Reminiscent of the 2014 pandemic
Dr Derek Gatherer, a virologist from Lancaster University, warned the outbreak was ‘reminiscent’ of the 2014 Ebola pandemic.
In an editorial for a scientific journal, Dr Gatherer wrote: ‘The current outbreak has the potential for rapid expansion in numbers.
He added: ‘Mbandaka is a port on the River Congo, the main arterial transport link from DRC’s capital Kinshasa to inland cities.
‘With poor to non-existent provision of running water, sewage and electricity, the similarities with the urban situation… during the west African outbreak are obvious.’
‘The risk of transmission to Kinshasa – central Africa’s main megacity – either by river or by air from Mbandaka’s regional airport, is a major concern.’
Future outbreaks likely
Writing in the Journal of General Virology, Dr Gatherer also warned the ‘question of how to prevent future Ebola outbreaks remains depressingly open’.
He described the DRC basin as ‘Ebola’s heartland’. The virus – endemic in the country – is named after the Ebola river.
The most recent outbreak, dubbed an ‘international public health emergency’ by the Congo Health Ministry, is caused by the Zaire strain.
Neighbouring countries were alerted
Neighbouring countries were alerted about the most recent outbreak of Ebola, which can cause severe bleeding.
DRC borders Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and the Republic of Congo.
Kenya, which doesn’t border the DRC, issued warnings over the possible spread of Ebola.
Thermal guns to detect anyone with a fever were put in place along Kenya’s border with Uganda and at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Concerned health officials in Nigeria, which also doesn’t border the DRC, put similar measures in place to keep its population safe.
Angola shut a segment of its border with the DRC to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, even though the outbreak did not reach the border.
Officials closed the strip of land where people most commonly cross. A group of border patrol officers, nurses and veterinary doctors were also on watch.
Much quicker aid response
The 2014 international response to the Ebola pandemic drew criticism for moving too slowly and prompted an apology from the WHO.
Yet international aid teams moved much quicker in response this time; implementing vaccination campaigns in several regions.
Hundreds of locals and frontline health workers in Bikoro, Iboko and Mbandaka were given the experimental vaccine, known as rVSV-ZEBOV.
There are no proven Ebola vaccines, however, the rVSV-ZEBOV has been shown to be effective in trials in Guinea during the pandemic.
WHAT IS EBOLA AND HOW DEADLY IS IT?
Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever, killed at least 11,000 across the world after it decimated West Africa and spread rapidly over the space of two years.
That pandemic was officially declared over back in January 2016, when Liberia was announced to be Ebola-free by the WHO.
The country, rocked by back-to-back civil wars that ended in 2003, was hit the hardest by the fever, with 40 per cent of the deaths having occurred there.
Sierra Leone reported the highest number of Ebola cases, with nearly of all those infected having been residents of the nation.
WHERE DID IT BEGIN?
An analysis, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found the outbreak began in Guinea – which neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone.
A team of international researchers were able to trace the pandemic back to a two-year-old boy in Meliandou – about 400 miles (650km) from the capital, Conakry.
Emile Ouamouno, known more commonly as Patient Zero, may have contracted the deadly virus by playing with bats in a hollow tree, a study suggested.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE STRUCK DOWN?
Figures show nearly 29,000 people were infected from Ebola – meaning the virus killed around 40 per cent of those it struck.
Cases and deaths were also reported in Nigeria, Mali and the US – but on a much smaller scale, with 15 fatalities between the three nations.
Health officials in Guinea reported a mysterious bug in the south-eastern regions of the country before the WHO confirmed it was Ebola.
Ebola was first identified by scientists in 1976, but the most recent outbreak dwarfed all other ones recorded in history, figures show.
HOW DID HUMANS CONTRACT THE VIRUS?
Scientists believe Ebola is most often passed to humans by fruit bats, but antelope, porcupines, gorillas and chimpanzees could also be to blame.
It can be transmitted between humans through blood, secretions and other bodily fluids of people – and surfaces – that have been infected.
IS THERE A TREATMENT?
The WHO warns that there is ‘no proven treatment’ for Ebola – but dozens of drugs and jabs are being tested in case of a similarly devastating outbreak.
Hope exists though, after an experimental vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, protected nearly 6,000 people. The results were published in The Lancet journal.
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