DRC: 2021 Plague

[Treyfish]

Ituri: at least 527 cases of plague with 32 deaths notified in 8 health zones


21.02.2021,

In Ituri province, the bubonic and pulmonary plagues that have resurfaced in recent months have already reached about 8 health zones with a significant increase in cases.
According to the provincial health minister who announced this Saturday, February 20, 2021 to Bunia Actualit?, at least 527 cases have already been notified, including 32 deaths.
The rat has been identified as the main vector of this epidemic.
“Apart from the flea, we also found even lice and other rodents which may be the reservoir for this epidemic,” explained Patrick Karamura.
According to him, the area of Biringi in Aru territory is the most infected with more than 300 cases.
Minister Karamura said he feared the rapid spread of the epidemic in the Aru region, this following the presence of many South Sudanese refugees.
“We have 13,000 South Sudanese refugees and more than 5,000 displaced people living there. So there is overcrowding in this region and that poses a lot of problems for us. There are a lot of cases in Biringi that really require a strong and urgent intervention, ”he says.
It must be said that the health zones of Rethy and Linga located in Djugu territory have always been considered the epicenter of this deadly epidemic.https://www.mediacongo.net/article-a..._de_sante.html

[sharon sanders]

bump this

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.ibtimes.sg/bubonic-plagu...-spreads-57752

Bubonic Plague: 11 Die in Congo After Vomiting Blood, as New Outbreak Spreads
By Trishna Das
May 27, 2021 13:50 +08

The Bubonic Plague has killed 11 people in the latest worrisome Black death surge in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least 15 cases of the devastating disease have been reported between April 23 and May 8 in Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which recently fought with another epidemic, called 'Ebola' in recent years.

The director of Ituri's Provincial Health Department (DPS), Dr. Luis Tshulo said that the Bubonic plague victims showed symptoms such as fever, headache, cough, and ultimately vomiting blood. The first case of the plague was reported in the Bukachele health zone, where a woman was reported dead from the infection.

"A week later, on April 30, a 30-year-old man also died after showing the same kind of symptoms. On May 8, there was another man who died. We were alerted when there were already five deaths in this health area in the same family," Dr. Tshulo said...

[Pathfinder]

WEEKLY BULLETIN ON OUTBREAKS
AND OTHER EMERGENCIES

Week 28: 05 - 11 July 2021
Data as reported by: 17:00; 11 July 2021
...

Plague Democratic Replublic of the Congo
(Ituri Province)

117 Cases
13 Deaths
11.1% CFR

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Plague is endemic to the north-east areas of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) where cases were reported for the
first time in 1928. Records show that there have sporadic cases
since March 2019. From 1 January 2021 to 20 June 2021, there
have been a total of 117 suspected cases of bubonic and pulmonary
plague and 13 deaths (case fatality rate (CFR): 11.1%) reported in
Ituri province from 8 health zones.

On 22 April 2021, a woman over 50 years old died experiencing
symptoms of headache, fever, cough, and respiratory discomfort
within Fataki health zone of the north-eastern province of Ituri
which shares a border with Uganda. During the next 4 weeks, 10
deaths were recorded in Fataki suspected to be due to pneumonic
plague. The patients presented with headache, fever, chills,
coughing sometimes with blood, shortness of breath, and vomiting
blood. Though the disease is endemic in the region, cases of plague
had not previously been reported in Fataki for more than a decade.
The endemic nature of the disease in this region is linked to more
cases in the rainy seasons (from March-May then July-November),
harvest seasons, and its peri-forest environment leading to the
presence of peri-domestic rodents that can carry the plague bacillus
and rodent fleas that transmit plague.

A rapid response team conducted an investigation, during which
suspected cases and personal contacts were identified. The team
found that from 22 April to 28 May 2021, 28 suspected cases of
pneumonic plague and 12 deaths (CFR: 44.0%) had been reported
in Fataki (27) and Drodro (1) health zones. In Fataki, three health
areas had reported cases including Bule, Bukatchele, and Salama
while Drodro health area reported one case in Drodro. One
suspected case was a displaced person from a nearby protected
village. A total of 641 personal contacts were listed during the
investigation for monitoring. By 20 June 2021, Fataki had reported
a total of 37 cases of bubonic and pulmonary plague with 12 deaths
(CFR: 32.4%).

According to country reports, an average of 114 cases were
reported between 2013-2020 where an upsurge in cases and
geographical extensions have been increasingly noted since 2019.
The most cases reported during these years was in 2020 where the
total of number of cases reached more than 450.

PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIONS

There are ongoing engagements with different partners on the
ground supporting the Ministry of Health with epidemiological
investigations and other response measures.

The provincial health division developed a working case
definition and is currently monitoring surveillance activities.
Personal contacts were monitored and given preventative
treatment to stop further spread of disease.

Medical treatment and infection prevention and control
materials were prepositioned to the affected areas.

Active community risk messaging is ongoing in the affected
areas.

Decontamination efforts in health facilities and households of
affected communities was conducted.

Dignified and secure burials were carried out by partners.

SITUATION INTERPRETATION

A cluster of deaths due to suspected pneumonic plague were
recorded in the health zone of Fataki, Ituri province, Democratic
Republic of the Congo in April-May 2021. While plague is endemic
in Ituri province, the Fataki health zone had not reported cases in
the previous 10 years. Following an investigation in Fataki health
zone, 28 suspected pneumonic plague cases including 12 deaths
were recorded from 22 April to 28 May 2021. As of 20 June 2021,
a total of 117 suspected plague cases (bubonic and pulmonary)
and 13 deaths (case fatality rate: 11.1%) were reported from eight
health zones in Ituri province.

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/342715/OEW28-0511072021.pdf

[Shiloh]

Source: http://moderntokyotimes.com/plague-h...-11-1-percent/


Posted on August 6, 2021 by Lee Jay
Plague hits Ituri Province in the DRC with a CFR rate of 11.1 percent
Kanako Mita and Sawako Utsumi
Modern Tokyo Times

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is witnessing a high number of plague cases in the province of Ituri. Historically, the bubonic plague conjures extreme images of a potent menace killing vast numbers of people. However, while no longer the killer disease of distant centuries, it is still killing at a high incident rate when cases emerge in the DRC...

...In the province of Ituri, the plague has been reported 117 times in the first six months of this year. Of these cases, 13 deaths are known to have occurred from either bubonic or pulmonary plague. Therefore, the case fatality rate (CFR) is 11.1 overall in the province of Ituri.

However, the CFR rate in the health zone of Fataki is even higher. Of the 37 known cases this year, 12 people have died. Thus the CFR rate is 32.4 percent. Equally worrying, the plague didn’t occur in this health zone in the last decade...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/new...-congo-3523106

Tension grips West Nile as deadly plague ravages DR Congo
Tuesday August 24 2021
By Franklin Draku
More by this Author

Summary

The infectious disease, also known as the Black Death, has claimed at least 50 lives in DR Congo. This has left residents on the whole stretch of the borderline from Koboko to Zombo districts on tenterhooks.


Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) share a border that straddles 877kms. Nearly one fourth of the borderline is in the West Nile Sub-region where locals have recently been casting worried glances following a bubonic plague outbreak.

The infectious disease, also known as the Black Death, has claimed at least 50 lives in DR Congo. This has left residents on the whole stretch of the borderline from Koboko to Zombo districts on tenterhooks.

The two districts — along with Arua and Maracha — hug the contours of Aru territory in Ituri Province where 12 deaths and 117 suspected cases have been registered.
A source on Arua District surveillance team told this newspaper that although no case has been confirmed in Uganda, caution remains the byword...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/new...ovince-3538150

Bubonic plague kills 44 children in DRC’s Ituri province
Sunday September 05 2021
By Daily Nation


At least 44 children have died in Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following an outbreak of bubonic plague, a UNICEF report has revealed.

The information delivered on September 3, 2021, by the United Nations mission in the DRC in its news report was confirmed by DRC’s Ministry of Health.

In this report, UNICEF says it is "increasingly concerned about the impact on children of the resurgence of the bubonic plague in the province of Ituri in Democratic Republic of the Congo"....