Dem. Republic of Congo - WHO: Ebola death toll grows, now 32

[sharon sanders]

machine translation

The high number of deaths of Ebola in Congo for 31 people

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014 - 15:32 File photo Cape Town (dpa) According to a report of Radio "Radio Okapi" in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday that the number of deaths caused by the Ebola virus in the country rose to 31 cases. was the World Health Organization has announced last week that the disease has killed 13 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. said Health Minister General Felix Kabange The incidence of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo limited to the area Dgera in the province of Mbandaka in northwest of the country. According to the World Health Organization, "that the first case recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a pregnant woman died in the August 11 / August, may quoted the infection to the number of health workers in a local clinic. organization reported that the presence of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is linked to the current crisis in West Africa, it is the seventh time that an outbreak of the disease in the state since 1976.

http://www.youm7.com/story/2014/9/2/%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%aa%d9%81%d8%a7%d8%b9_%d8%b9%d8%af%d8%af_%d9%88%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%aa_%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%b3_%d8%a5%d9%8a%d8%a8%d9%88%d9%84%d8%a7_%d9%81%d9%89_%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%83%d9%88%d9%86%d8%ba%d9%88_%d9%84%d9%80_31_%d8%b4%d8%ae%d8%b5%d8%a7/1846794#.VAW_G_ldVoA

[sharon sanders]

hat tip Michael Coston


Virological analysis: no link between Ebola outbreaks in west Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo

Situation assessment - 2 September 2014

Results from virus sequencing of samples from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were received last night. The virus is the Zaire strain, in a lineage most closely related to a virus from the 1995 Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, DRC.

The Zaire strain of the virus is indigenous in the country. Ebola first emerged in 1976 in almost simultaneous outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) and South Sudan (then Sudan).

Confirmatory testing was done at Gabon?s Centre International de Recherches M?dicales in Franceville, a WHO collaborating centre. Earlier, testing in DRC confirmed Ebola in 6 of 8 samples.

The outbreak is located in the remote Boende district, Equateur province in the north-western part of the country.

Results from virus characterization, together with findings from the epidemiological investigation, are definitive: the outbreak in DRC is a distinct and independent event, with no relationship to the outbreak in west Africa.

As the Gabon laboratory report clearly stated, ?the virus in the Boende district is definitely not derived from the virus strain currently circulating in west Africa.?

These findings are reassuring, as they exclude the possibility that the virus has spread from West to Central Africa.

Epidemiological investigation has linked the index case, who died on 11 August, to the preparation of bushmeat for consumption.

This is the country?s seventh Ebola outbreak since 1976. The introduction of the virus into the human population following contact with infected bushmeat (usually fruit bats or monkeys) is consistent with the pattern seen at the start of previous outbreaks. The virus is now spreading from person to person.

The response team has, to date, identified 53 cases consistent with the case definition for Ebola virus disease, including 31 deaths. Seven of these deaths were among health care workers. More than 160 contacts are being traced.

The government has rapidly mounted a robust response by reactivating emergency committees at national, provincial, and local levels, setting up isolation centres, and providing community leaders with facts about the disease. The government will ensure that all burials are safe.

The WHO team confirmed that collaboration between the government and its key partners is excellent.

The outbreak zone, where the most intense transmission is occurring, is remote, located some 1200 kilometres from the capital city, Kinshasa. No paved roads run from the outbreak zone to Kinshasa. However, cases have been detected or transmission is ongoing at three sites, underscoring the need to watch the outbreak?s evolution closely.

Motorcycles, canoes, and satellite phones have been supplied to facilitate outbreak investigation and contact tracing. A dedicated helicopter will be made available soon.

WHO media contacts:
Fad?la Chaib
Telephone: + 41 22 791 3228
Mobile:+ 41 79 475 55 56
Email: chaibf@who.int

Tarik Jasarevic
Mobile: +41 793 676 214
Tel: +41 22 791 5099
E-mail: jasarevict@who.int

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/2-september-2014/en/

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: RDC - WHO: Ebola deaths grow to 31

06 September 2014 - 21H08
DR Congo Ebola death toll climbs to 32

inShare
AFP

The Democratic Republic of Congo upped its death toll from Ebola on Saturday to 32 but insisted the outbreak, separate from an epidemic raging in west Africa, could be contained in its remote forest hotspot.

"We have registered 32 deaths," one up from a toll issued on Tuesday, Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi told a press conference.

Kabange tallied 59 likely or confirmed cases of the tropical fever, saying the "big challenge" was to survey suspicious cases in order to staunch the contagion.

Three hundred and thirty-six people have had contact with Ebola sufferers or the bodies of victims, up from 285 on Tuesday, he said.
...

http://www.france24.com/en/20140906-dr-congo-ebola-death-toll-climbs-32/?aef_campaign_date=2014-09-06&aef_campaign_ref=partage_aef&ns_campaign=reseaux_sociaux&ns_linkname=editorial&ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter