Congo - Ebola - 183 deaths + 187 suspected cases

Shannon Bennett · Sep 12, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

LOL, Jackson I can't disagree with your assessment of the inane comments made by the good doctor or with the journalism.

edited to add:

Given that the date given for the doctor with lassa was transported back in Feb. of 2007, we can either feel relieved or confused. Is this this same doctor? I don't know. I wish I did.

Treyfish · Sep 12, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Mweka: it is well Ebola!
(SAIDI NYOTA SYLVESTRE)

The Minister for Sant?publique held Tuesday the 4? technical meeting of the committee of crisis made up with the partners. He announced, on the occasion, the descent with Kananga of a team of crisis. It will have the role of undertaking an epidemiologic study and of making the evaluation on the spot in order to take strategies aiming at putting a term at this epidemic. The minister is itself with the head of this structure which left Kinshasa this morning for the chief town of Kasa? Occidental. Present at this meeting of were delegated WHO, UNICEF, red Cross, of Axess, Sanru, of CRS, OCHA and of Usaid.

The concern was also to make the reading of the results of the analysis of the samples sent to Atlanta and Franceville in Gabon. They passed to the fine comb the financial statement to Luebo where the center of health is which receives the patients. With the reading of the results of CDC Atlanta, one noted that four out of eleven samples sent to the American laboratory were tested positive. They are the same results obtained on the supports tested with Franceville in Gabon.
Concerning the center of health of Luebo, on thirteen patients, nine were hospitalized whereas four are convalescents, according to the secretary general of Health, Dr. Kiebele, who underlined the need for having two doctors in a kind of permanent unit of insulation in order to avoid possible contagions and to control the shift in population being gives, it insisted, that Mweka is a city in full forest.
The representative of the World Health Organization indicated that 300 units of protection were offered and dispatched on the spot in Kananga. WHO was said laid out to bring its support to the government according to the need. Except change of last minute, an American doctor was to arrive Tuesday for an exchange within the framework of the support in order to face the virus.

Measurements of framing
Having taken with serious the threat, the government has just prohibited any access to the center of insulation. By these measurements, it is formally interdict of assembly in places of burial. Consequence: the school re-entry on the spot at summer delayed on the spot in Mweka.
Speaking as an expert, the epidemiologist of the INRB, Dr. Muyembe, indicated to have sent materials of protection and taking away intended for Atlanta. It pled for the installation of a cell of coordination on the level of the ministry and all the provinces for a better communication. It insisted on the logistics and the means of displacements, necessary, in its eyes, for this kind of operation. All those which were in liaison with the patients must be announced, insisted the epidemiologist for their insulation during 21 days in optics to avoid the extension of the disease. What implies, a fast means of diagnosis to avoid mixing the case of Ebola with other diseases. Messages of sensitizing must be diffused in all the languages on the media, wished Dr. Muyembe.
The spokesman of WHO has G?n?ve, for its part, declared that five cases of Ebola were confirmed in Western Kasa? while recalling that the disease had already killed 450 people since 1976. The priority for WHO is to find the patients of Ebola, to isolate them from the people with whom they were in contact, said Fadela Chaib.:tiphat:
http://www.lepharerdc.com/www/index_view.php?storyID=3784&rubriqueID=1
2007-09-12

Treyfish · Sep 12, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Kinshasa, the 13-09-2007]? Company

Hemorrhagic epidemic of Fever to Ebola Virus in Democratic Republic of Congo in the zone of health of MWEKA, Province of Western Kasa?
[0 comments]

Kinshasa, on September 11, 2007. The Minister for the public health of the DRC, Dr. Victor Makwenge, announced this Monday September 10 at 9 p.m., through the national mediae, which has occurred in the zone of health of Mweka in the province of Kasa? Occidental, of an epidemic of hemorrhagic fever to Ebola virus.
The results coming from Franceville in Gabon and CDC Atlanta/USA, this September 10, confirm the diagnosis of the hemorrhagic fever with Ebola virus, added the Minister for health.
This epidemic whose first case would go up in April 2007 to date adds up 372 cases including 166 death, that is to say a rate of lethality of 44,6%.
The Minister for health invited the population with calms and serenity and their asked to follow the recommendations of the teams deployed on the ground and to lend strong hands to them. The provisions are taken to avoid the extension of this epidemic in other localities
It moreover recalled that the country had to face similar situations which made it possible to develop a recognized national expertise. They are in particular the epidemics of Yambuku in 1976, of Kikwit in 1995 and Watsa in 1999.

The Minister for health asked WHO to support the country in the coordination of the response vis-a-vis this epidemic.

He launches a call to the international community in order to mobilize himself to help the DRC to suppress this epidemic quickly and to avoid the extension.

WHO and all the partners mobilized themselves for urgent interventions, in particular the sending of the material of assumption of responsibility, protection, taking away and teams of experts.:tiphat:

http://www.laprosperiteonline.net/affichage_article.php?id=2715&rubrique=Societe
LPM
13-09-2007 - 05:04: 40

Treyfish · Sep 12, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Uganda: Ebola Strikes Congo; Country Put On Alert

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The Monitor (Kampala)
12 September 2007
Posted to the web 11 September 2007
Hussein Bogere & Agencies
Arua
EBOLA is back.
The deadly haemorrhagic fever for which there is no cure, has been confirmed in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday.

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Following the announcement, Uganda's Health Ministry has issued a red alert to all border posts. "We are always concerned that is why we have issued a directive to all border posts to be vigilant," said Dr Sam Okware, the commissioner for health and chairperson for the Ebola Task Force.
Samples from five people have tested positive for the Ebola virus in the southern province of Kasai Occidental, where authorities have reported some 120 deaths among 300 sick people in the past four months, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said.
The results of the tests were presented to Dr Okware's team yesterday at the WHO offices in Kampala, prompting the issuance of the alert.
Kasai Occidental province is 2000 kilometres away from Uganda. But although it may seem miles away, the threat of the virus spreading into the country cannot get any serious, medical experts said yesterday.
It is not in doubt that the border between Uganda and the DRC is as porous as it gets given the informal trade relations between the two neighbours. However, Dr Okware said that the more likely route for viral spread is through Entebbe International Airport.
"The people at the airport are aware of what is going on. They should report to us anybody suspicious especially if they have a fever," he said.
The WHO on Tuesday activated its Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network, known as GOARN, asking partner health organisations including the Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, where tests on samples from people who tested positive were done, to send epidemiologists and other experts to the DRC.
"The WHO is in the process now of coordinating international teams to go into the area," Mr Hartl said.
So far the only Ebola outbreak recorded in Uganda was in 2000 and claimed the lives of 160 people mainly from Gulu District, including Dr Mathew Lukwiya, the Lacor Hospital superintendent. Lukwiya succumbed to the disease as he treated victims of the deadly fever. The government at the time responded by forming a national task force as well as quarantining people in Gulu District. It was suspected then that Ugandan soldiers returning from fighting in the DRC could have carried the virus into the country although the reports were not confirmed.
Medical experts say the incubation period for the Ebola virus is seven days on average.
The disease, which causes death in 50 to 90 per cent of cases, is transmitted by contact with blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons. Symptoms begin with fever and muscle pain, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea and in some cases bleeding from orifices. The symptoms are similar to those of the Marburg fever which recently hit Kamwenge District. It was, however, put under control following early intervention by the Ministry of Health.
Although Dr Okware said Marburg fever's reservoir is still a mystery to scientists, he added that, "We sent a sample of over 1000 bats to United States. The results are expected in four weeks, but surveillance is continuing."
Just like Marburg fever, the Ebola virus' natural reservoir is still a puzzle, experts have said, but it seems to reside in African rain forests and in areas of the Western Pacific, according to WHO.
The DRC recorded its first case of Ebola in 1976, although until yesterday's announcement, the last epidemic reported in the vast central African country was in 1995 when 244 people died. Other cases were reported in South Sudan which also borders northern Uganda.
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Fears over the spread of the disease could heighten considering that only recently, Congolese refugees poured into Uganda as they run away from fighting between President Kabila's troops and rebel leader Laurent Nkunda. Uganda and DR Congo have also recently had a border dispute following the discovery of oil at the common border.
The WHO said yesterday that it is important to warn communities that Ebola can be transmitted at burial ceremonies where mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased. Publicist, Mr Hartl said the WHO suspected that other diseases such as Shigella disease which is borne by contaminated food or water, could be ravaging the remote Kasia Occidental province.
"We have to identify cases and isolate cases, separating Shigella patients from Ebola," he said adding, "We know there are five cases confirmed as Ebola. We still believe other things are going on. We have to get more people on the ground in the area to investigate.":tiphat: http://allafrica.com/stories/200709110985.html

Treyfish · Sep 12, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Congo-Kinshasa: Ebola - Towns Quarantined

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The Monitor (Kampala)
13 September 2007
Posted to the web 12 September 2007
Hussein Bogere & Agencies
Kinshasa
AUTHORITIES have placed two towns in southern Democratic Republic of Congo in quarantine to contain an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever, a deadly disease for which there is no treatment.
Health workers in DR Congo's southern province of Kasai Occidental had reported more than 160 deaths among 352 sick people in the past four months due to a mystery fever.

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However, Dr Sam Okware, the chairperson of Uganda's National Task Force on Ebola, said there is no immediate danger to the country but advised travellers, especially business people going to DRC to be vigilant.
Although the threat is still far away, Dr Okware advised authorities at the border posts and at Entebbe International Airport to be on the look out for any suspicious cases of infection, especially the ones that involve bleeding.
The first case of Ebola in Uganda was reported in 2000 in an outbreak in Gulu District that claimed over 200 lives including Dr Mathew Lukwiya, then superintendent of St Mary's Hospital Lacor.
Ebola is characterised by a sudden onset of fever, body weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.
This is often followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver malfunction, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
Laboratory findings show low counts of white blood cells and platelets as well as elevated liver enzymes. The primary mode of person-to-person transmission is contact with contaminated blood, secretions or body fluids.
Any person who has had close physical contact with patients should be kept under strict surveillance with body temperature checks twice a day, immediate hospitalisation and strict isolation are recommended in case of an onset of fever.
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Medical personnel who come into close contact with patients or contaminated materials without barrier nursing attire must be considered as contacts and followed up accordingly.
Dr Lukwiya is widely believed to have died as a result of close contact with the patients.
The Ebola virus was first identified in a western equatorial province of Sudan and in a nearby region of Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1976 after significant epidemics in Yambuku in northern DRC, and Nzara in south Sudan.:tiphat:
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Treyfish · Sep 12, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

<TABLE id=texttable><TBODY><TR><TD id=autotrans style="VISIBILITY: visible"></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD id=sourcecell></TD><TD id=gap> </TD><TD class=almost_half_cell>Source: United Nations News Service
Date: 12 Sep 2007
WHO: an eruption of Ebola fever announced in democratic Republic of Congo
At September 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of 372 cases and 166 deaths due to the Ebola virus in democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

?The ministry for the Health of the DRC confirmed a hemorrhagic eruption of fever Ebola, in the province of Western Kasa?, indicates an official statement published yesterday in Geneva.

According to the WHO, analyses' carried out in laboratory to Gabon and Atlanta, in the United States, confirmed the presence of the virus. In addition, ?the tests led to Kinshasa on the samples of urine and blood of the touched people show also the presence of the virus ?standard Shigella dysentariae 1?? person in charge for shigellosis, which complicates the forecast.

The agency gave its support for the DRC by sending equipment and of the personnel in the area. A team of national and international experts is also mobilized, while ONG M?decins without borders deployed clinicians, experts out of water and cleansing and set up of the centers of insulation.

According to the card of the WHO devoted to the Ebola virus, this last account four sub-types: Zaire, Sudan, Ivory Coast and Reston.

Three of the viral sub-types, present in democratic Republic of Congo (in the past Zaire), in Sudan and in Ivory Coast, are pathogenic for the man.

The hemorrhagic fever with Ebola virus is a hemorrhagic disease which causes death at 50% to 90% of the patients presenting of the clinical demonstrations. The infection of the man by the Reston sub-type of the Ebola virus, which one finds in the Western Pacific, always remained quiet to date: those which contract it do not present any symptom. The natural basin seems to be in the tropical forests of the African continent and the Western Pacific.

The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with blood, secretions, the bodies or of the biological liquids of the infected subjects.

The ritual funerary ones, during which the parents and friends are in direct contact with the body of late, play an important part in the transmission.

Like there was recently the confirmation in Ivory Coast of it, in Republic of Congo and in Gabon, one noted that the Ebola virus could transmit to the man during handling animals carrying the virus, alive or died: chimpanzees, gorillas and antelopes of wood. One also announced the transmission of the Reston stock during the handling of macaques of Buffon. <<<"bird transmission"

Agents of health were often contaminated in contact with the patients whom they treated without taking the anti-infectious precautions necessary and without applying the techniques of care in insulation. :tiphat:

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http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/SODA-76Z3LF?OpenDocument&rc=1&cc=cod

Laidback Al · Sep 12, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Google translation of French news article from on-line DRC newspaper. Much of the information is the same as in the post above by treyfish. This article adds more about symptoms and potential treatment.

The epidemic of ebola devastates Western Kasa?
Wednesday September 12, 2007, NUMBER

The epidemic of Ebolahas been just confirmed in Mweka in Kasa? Occidental. It is the Minister for the Public health of the DRC, Dr. Victor Makwenge Kaput who announced it the evening on the antennas of the RTNC. This, after confirmation of the results of last September 9 in Atlanta (the United States) and Franceville (in Gabon). Indeed, the Ebola virus, of the family of Filoviridae, counts four sub-types: Zaire, Sudan, Ivory Coast and Reston. Three of the viral sub-types, present in democratic Republic of Congo (in the past Zaire), in Sudan and in Ivory Coast, are pathogenic for the man. The hemorrhagic fever with Ebola virus is a hemorrhagic disease which causes death at 50 % to 90 % of the patients presenting of the clinical demonstrations. The infection of the man by the Reston sub-type of the Ebola virus, which one finds in the Western Pacific, always remained quiet to date: those which contract it do not present any symptom. The natural basin seems to be in the tropical forests of the African continent and the Western Pacific. This Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with blood, secretions, the bodies or of the biological liquids of the infected subjects. The ritual funerary ones, during which the parents and friends are in direct contact with the body of late, play an important part in the transmission. Like there was recently the confirmation in Ivory Coast of it, in Republic of Congo and in Gabon, one noted that the Ebola virus could transmit to the man during handling animals carrying the virus, alive or died: chimpanzees, gorillas and antelopes of wood. One also announced the transmission of the Reston stock during the handling of macaques of Buffon. It should nevertheless be retained that this hemorrhagic fever with Ebola is often characterized by an abrupt rise of temperature, with an intense weakness, myalgias, cephalgias and evils of throat. This fever is often followed vomiting, diarrhoeas, eruptions cutaneous, of renal and hepatic insufficiency and internal bleedings and external. The analyses of laboratory reveal a fall of the numeration of the leucocytes and plates, as well as a rise in the hepatic enzymes. Until there, tests specialized on the samples of blood highlight specific antigens or genes of the virus. It is possible to detect antibodies against the virus and to insulate this one in cellular culture. The serious cases must be placed in unit of intensive care, because the patients are often dehydrated and must be put under perfusion or r?hydrat?s by oral way with solutions of electrolytes. There is not any treatment nor vaccine specific for the hemorrhagic fever to Ebola virus. Several vaccines candidates are in the course of test perhaps but it years should be still waited before a vaccine can be used. A new medicamentous therapy seems promising at the laboratory. Its evaluation continues but will take undoubtedly years.
Desungi

http://www.groupelavenir.net/spip.php?article13830

Sally Furniss · Sep 13, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

The way I read it is:
Patients evacuated to SA

Journalist notes that SAA has flight between SA and Kinshasa

Journalist contacts SAA and gets the following statement

SAA said it had noted the reports of “a suspected haemorrhagic fever outbreak in a remote part of the Congo”.

SAA spokesperson Sarah Uys said if the situation worsened , passengers would be warned about a possible danger.
“But for now we don’t foresee problems,

It does not say they carried a passenger with ebola.

I take it to mean they would warn passengers going to that area.

Shannon Bennett · Sep 13, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Anne, you could be correct. It did bother me immensely anyone could have made such a bonehead decision in the first place. This is one instance I would love to be mistaken in.

Sally Furniss · Sep 13, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Shannon said:
Anne, you could be correct. It did bother me immensely anyone could have made such a bonehead decision in the first place. This is one instance I would love to be mistaken in.

Looks like the doctor was not known to be carrying the virus so might have been on a commercial flight. Anyway it happened in 1996.

http://www.eurosurveillance.org/em/v07n03/0703-222.asp

1996 "An ill Gabonese physician sought medical care in South Africa in late October, where he infected a nurse who died with EHF."

and this

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9611/25/ebola.death/index.html

"Health officials at the Morningside Clinic in Johannesburg said nurse Marilyn Lahana, 46, died from the virus...

Lahana apparently caught the illness from a Gabonese doctor she was treating but who was not known to be carrying the virus. The doctor, who became ill while in Gabon ... recovered."

http://www.who.int/csr/don/1996_11_18/en/index.html

A case of Ebola haemorrhagic fever was confirmed in a nurse on 16 November. The illness started with mild fever on 2 November and progressed to severe headache on 6 November when she was admitted to hospital with suspected encephalitis. No evidence of encephalitis was found in cerebrospinal fluid. The patient developed a fine rash and diarrhoea and platelet count which had been low on admission continued to fall. This was accompanied by marked leukopenia and abnormal liver enzyme tests. Immunofluorescence test of serum was negative for Ebola virus and a range of other haemorrhagic fever viruses on 9 November. On 14 November, serum inoculated into cell cultures gave positive IF reaction to Ebola virus. Serological results further confirmed the diagnosis. This is the first case of Ebola fever diagnosed in South Africa. Tracing the source of the infection established that the nurse had been exposed on 29 October to the blood of a very ill doctor who had been brought from Libreville, Gabon on 27 October. The doctor recovered and was discharged on 11 November to convalesce in a nearby facility. He had antibody to Ebola virus; virus isolation is being attempted from blood specimens collected during his acute illness. The nurse was in a critical but stable state on 17 November. Immediately after the laboratory confirmation, committees were established to oversee infection control, contact tracing and observation, and all other aspects of outbreak control.

http://www.mcb.uct.ac.za/ebola/ebogab12.htm

From: ProMED-mail
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 11:52:38 -0500
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Ebola - South Africa (04)

EBOLA - SOUTH AFRICA (04)
=========================
[See also:
Ebola - South Africa 961117104918
Ebola - South Africa (02) 961117184708
Ebola - South Africa (03) 961118122957]

Source: The London Times, November 19, 1996
Via: OUTBREAK http://www.outbreak.org/

More than 200 people are quarantined at a hospital in
Johannesburg after being in contact with either the Gabonese
doctor or the nurse with Ebola infection. They are being
tested and watched for symptoms of the deadly virus.

Great alarm has been expressed at unconfirmed claims that
both Mrs. Lahana and the medical staff that have been treating
her donated blood in the week before the nurse was
diagnosed with Ebola. There are also reports of concerns
over inadequate safety precautions and the health authorities
have been criticized for treating the Gabonese doctor as an
out-patient while he is still a potential carrier of the virus.
Ebola patients can carry the virus in semen for up to seven
weeks after recovering.

Some doctors and nurses have expressed fury and fear over
the fact that a private hospital in Johannesburg was allowed to
fly in a critically ill patient from Gabon, right in the middle of an
Ebola outbreak. And that neither the doctors at the hospital or
the infected Gabonese doctor suspected Ebola.

"The world and South Africa have been given a wake-up
call," said Professor Bob Swanepoel. He emphasized that the
ease of movement of people across the globe meant that an
outbreak of Ebola could occur anywhere, with possibly very
serious consequences.

South Africa's health authorities have set up an Ebola helpline,
for information about the situation. President Mandela
yesterday urged the people not to panic.

Treyfish · Sep 13, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - update

13 September 2007
Following the confirmed laboratory diagnosis of the presence of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever virus in samples taken from cases in the province of Kasai Occidental of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO is currently upgrading its field operations to support the Ministry of Health in managing and containing the outbreak.
A team from the WHO Country Office has been present in the affected area since 3 September 2007 with further staff from the WHO Regional Office for Africa joining the field operations on 7 September and this week from WHO Headquarters. The WHO team is working closely with representatives of the Ministry of Health and M?decins Sans Fronti?res to upgrade the existing facilities. Of high priority is the establishment of a mobile field laboratory to be attached to the existing isolation ward in order to expedite rapid diagnosis of patients and to differentiate between the different pathogens, such as Shigella dysenteriae type 1, that have also been associated with this outbreak. Ongoing surveillance and case finding is also being enhanced and social mobilization activities are under-way to provide the local population with all relevant information in order to contain the outbreak.
WHO is also establishing a logistics platform in the vicinity to support the field operations and to facilitate access to the affected area.:tiphat: http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_09_13/en/index.html

Treyfish · Sep 13, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

[Kinshasa, the 12-09-2007]? Nation

Ebola with Mueka: The Minister for health Victor Makwenge today in Kananga
[0 comments]

E Minister for the Public health Victor Makwenge leaves Kinshasa on the way this Wednesday for Kananga for Mweka, Luebo, Bena Lueka, Kapungu, where the epidemic of Ebola prevails.
Yesterday the 4?m? meeting was held of the committee of crisis around this epidemic. All the partners took to share with this meeting in particular the representatives of WHO, UNICEF, MSF of Belgium? In the center of the meeting development of the point of contingency and the sending of the trainers for the assumption of responsibility which is already operational on the ground and the reinforcement of the teams present at Mueka, Luebo and Bena Lueka. Monday the government sent masks, bleach, wind-breakers. The assemblies are prohibited in the zone of health of Mueka. It was asked that the school re-entry is delayed to avoid the contamination on the level of the children. In the last 48 hours, one recorded 3 new cases including 1 death.
In a message with the nation Monday evening the Minister Victor Makwenge announced that one showed 400 cases including 160 dead. Drugs, material and equipment were conveyed in the zones of health concerned. Samples of blood and saddles were taken and analyzed with the INRB Kinshasa, at the laboratory of reference of Franceville to Gabon and the laboratory of CDC Atlanta to the United States. The results coming from Franceville and CDC Atlanta confirm the diagnosis of the hemorrhagic viral fever of Ebola.
In the past, supported the minister, the country had to make with similar situations which made it possible to develop a recognized national expertise. They are in particular the epidemics of Yambuku in 1976, of Kikwit in 1995 and Watsa in 1999. Right now, the provisions are taken to avoid the extension of this epidemic in the other localities. The World Health Organization coordinates the response vis-a-vis this epidemic. The Minister invites the populations of the localities concerned with calms and serenity and their request to follow the recommendations of the teams deployed on the ground, in their lending strong hands. The Government will not spare any effort to come to end from this situation.:tiphat:
http://www.laprosperiteonline.net/affichage_article.php?id=2710&rubrique=Nation

B.B.B.
12-09-2007 - 09:48: 03

Treyfish · Sep 13, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

September 12, 2007
Democratic Republic of Congo: MSF Responds to Ebola Outbreak in Kasai
An outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever has been confirmed in West Kasai province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Doctors Without Borders/M?decins Sans Fronti?res (MSF) is reinforcing its emergency team already working on the ground. A team of specialists has been dispatched as well.Late on Monday, September 10, the Congolese Ministry of Health officially declared an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the province of West Kasai. Laboratories in Atlanta, USA, and in Franceville, Gabon, have confirmed the presence of Ebola virus in samples. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 372 suspected cases have been reported and 166 people have died ? a mortality rate of approximately 45 percent. Not all these deaths are necessarily due to Ebola, however. The presence of other diseases is also suspected, such as Shigella dysentery.
Since the end of April, cases of an unknown illness started to be reported in the region of Mweka, a town of 9,000 inhabitants in West Kasai, about two days drive from Kananga, the provincial capital. Over the last two weeks, more suspected cases were reported in the health zones of Mweka, Kampungu, Luebo, and even one in Kananga. MSF is working in the health center of Kampungu, the most affected health zone. There are 12 patients currently hospitalized, of whom three are in severe condition.
Patients present with high fever, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, and, in some cases, external or internal bleeding. Case fatality rates have ranged from 50 to 90 percent Typically, by the end of the second week of illness, patients succumb to multiple organ failure. No vaccine or treatment exists for this type of infection, so MSF isolates suspected cases to prevent spread of the disease to other patients, health care workers, and families, treats the symptoms and reduces the suffering of patients. While waiting for the results of specialized testing for the organism, patients have been isolated, treated with antibiotics and given supportive therapy for low blood pressure and breathing difficulties.
Since September 2, a team from MSF's DRC-based emergency team has been working in Kampungu. The team consists of a physician, a nurse and a logistician, and has already been reinforced by a choordinator from the Emergency Unit from Brussels, Belgium, two water-and-sanitation specialists, and a social worker. Additional physicians, nurses, logisticians, water-and-sanitation specialists, an epidemiologist, and an expert in Ebola fever, will arrive in West Kasai in the coming days, bringing the MSF team to a total of 15 people.
MSF has responded to previous outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever, of Ebola or Marburg types: in Angola (2005), Gabon (1997 and 2002), Uganda (2001), Congo-Brazzaville (2003/2004), southern Sudan (2004). In DRC, MSF responded to a major Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, capital of the neighboring province of Bandundu, in 1995. This epidemic killed 244 people between May and August 1995.
"Ebola medical kits" will be sent by plane from Lubumbashi and from Kinshasa. These kits are made up of protection kits for the team?surgeon and plastic gloves, boots, glasses, masks, protection uniforms, apron and hoods?for single use. The disease is highly contagious and protective clothing can only be used once and then must be carefully destroyed.
Additional material designed to take samples from sick patients and to transport them will reach Kananga on Thursday. Medical supplies, such as perfusions, antibiotics, anti-malaria drugs, as well as food rations, are being prepared in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, and are scheduled to arrive in West Kasai province on Wednesday. Water-and-sanitation material, such as water tanks and chlorine for disinfection will also be sent.
The MSF team will continue to isolate infected persons in the health center of Kampungu; trace actively the people who have been in contact with sick patients; and raise awareness among the population about the basic rules to prevent the transmission of the disease.:tiphat:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/2007/09-12-2007.cfm

Treyfish · Sep 13, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Ebola Virus Confirmed In Democratic Republic Of Congo: MSF Sending In Specialists

<snip> Article Date: 13 Sep 2007 - 13:00 PDT
MSF is currently working in Kampungu, the most affected area, where 12 patients are currently hospitalised. Three of them are in a severe condition:tiphat: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/82300.php

hawkeye · Sep 14, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Zambia in Ebola alert
Government says it has put health officials in border areas with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on high alert following the outbreak of the deadly Ebola disease in that country.

Health Minister, Brian Chituwo told journalists in the Zambian capital, Lusaka that his ministry has instructed health officials in border areas with the DRC to ensure people entering the country from the former Zaire are extensively screened.

Dr. Chituwo noted that all people coming from the DRC will be observed for up to 8 hours for any Ebola symptoms.

However the Minister said that there is no risk that the disease might be transmitted into Zambia because Ebola is a very dangerous disease which claims its victims within a short period of contacting it.

Dr. Chituwo added that it is almost impossible for people who are infected to cross into Zambia.

Ebola is a deadly disease has broken out in the DRC and hundreds of people have already died.

Vibrant62 · Sep 14, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

It is not clear from the data at which stage a person is infectious, or if it is only during the 'active' post incubation phase of the disease.

In any event, given the serious nature of Ebola, I am surprised at comments such as the one reported above. If there is a risk of a widespread infection that may not yet be evident in view of the potentially long incubation period (2-21 days) if would be more prudent at this stage to close borders or at least keep any individuals entering the country from the Congo under close surveillance for the duration of the incubation period, perhaps getting them to report somewhere for a daily health check.

Niko · Sep 14, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Search for more Ebola victims in DR Congo

1 hour ago
KINSHASA (AFP) ? Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo are urgently searching for around 100 people believed to have been in contact with victims of the deadly Ebola virus, the government said Friday.

"We are looking for all people who may have been in contact with the sick who are presenting symptoms of Ebola or of Shigellose," DRC Secretary General of Health Benoit Kebelo told AFP.

DRC is fighting to contain an outbreak of Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever that kills 50 to 90 percent of those it infects, which the government fears may have claimed more than 160 lives since April.

At the same time, the Shigella strand of infectious dysentery, which is treatable by antibiotics, has also surfaced and could be responsible for some of the deaths.

"We're looking for around 100 people, especially in the Kampungu zone," Kebelo said, referring to the epicentre of the two epidemics, located some 300 kilometres (185 miles) from the provincial capital of Kananga.

He emphasised that since the outbreaks were first detected at the end of April only five cases of Ebola and one of Shigella had been formally confirmed by international laboratories.

The latest suspected toll, however, stands at 169 deaths out of 376 cases, Kebelo said.

"You must approach these numbers with caution. There are symptoms that could correspond to other illnesses and we don't know yet what the true scope of Ebola or Shigella is," he warned.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iUwLUEhk045fC4LflmzV_o35VZ9Q

Niko · Sep 14, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Health experts try to tackle Congo ebola outbreak

L'Express (Port Louis)

NEWS
14 September 2007
Posted to the web 14 September 2007
Port Louis

Health workers launched an emergency operation yesterday to fight an outbreak of deadly Ebola haemorrhagic fever in southern Congo, airlifting supplies, setting up isolation tents and disinfecting contaminated areas.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and medical NGOs such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) joined local health authorities in a major logistics operation to try to contain the outbreak in Kasai Occidental province of Democratic Republic of Congo.

Congo's government, citing test results from international laboratories, said recently at least five cases of Ebola had been confirmed in the province, where authorities have reported more than 160 deaths among 352 sick people over four months. Several African countries have suffered previous outbreaks of the highly contagious disease, which causes death in 50 to 90 percent of cases and is transmitted by contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons.

<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td align="right">  <script language="JavaScript"> GA_googleFillSlot("AllAfrica_Other_Inset"); </script><script src="http://partner.googleadservices.com/gampad/ads?correlator=1189781375375&output=json_html&callback=_GA_googleAdEngine.setAdContentsBySlotForSync&impl=s&prev_afc=0&client=ca-pub-2420009840005975&slotname=AllAfrica_Other_Inset&page_slots=AllAfrica_Other_BannerBottom%2CAllAfrica_Other_BannerMid%2CAllAfrica_Other_Inset%2CAllAfrica_Other_Leaderboard%2CAllAfrica_Other_LeftA%2CAllAfrica_Other_LeftB%2CAllAfrica_Other_RightA%2CAllAfrica_Other_RightB%2CAllAfrica_Other_RightC&cust_params=language%3Denglish%26Topics%3Dhealth%26Countries%3Dcentralafr%252Ccongo_kins&cookie_enabled=1&ga_vid=1571462041.1189781343&ga_sid=1189781343&ga_hid=16572562&ga_fc=true&url=http%3A%2F%2Fallafrica.com%2Fstories%2Fprintable%2F200709140712.html&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fallafrica.com%2Fstories%2F200709140712.html&lmt=1189776098&dt=1189781375484&cc=100&u_h=1024&u_w=1280&u_ah=990&u_aw=1280&u_cd=32&u_tz=-240&u_his=1&u_java=true&u_nplug=31&u_nmime=106"></script> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> No vaccine or treatment exists that can cure Ebola fever.

MSF was reinforcing its health team in the Kasai Occidental village of Kampungu, the epicentre of the latest outbreak, and had flown three tonnes of supplies to the provincial capital Kananga for distribution in the worst-affected areas. This included tents and plastic sheeting. "We have to build structures to isolate the patients," said Pascale Zintzen, a spokeswoman for MSF in Kinshasa.

Medicines and water and sanitation materials, such as water tanks and chlorine for disinfectant, were also being sent. :applause:

http://allafrica.com/stories/200709140712.html

Laidback Al · Sep 14, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Map of Kasai-Occidental showing the general location of Kampungu in Mweka Administrative Zone.

Treyfish · Sep 14, 2007

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Re: Congo - Ebola - 160 dead - WHO Experts In Congo To Study Mysterious Disease

Ebola in DRC: research activates cases of contact with patients
AFP
Sep 14, 07 - 15h41

KINSHASA, 14 seven 2007 - the health services of the democratic Republic of Congo seek a hundred people having had contacts with patients in Western Kasa? (center), where 5 cases of hemorrhagic fever Ebola were identified among 169 deaths since the end April.

?We seek all the people who could be in liaison with patients who present the symptoms of Ebola or shigellosis. It is about a hundred people, in particular in the zone of Kampungu, epicentre of the epidemics (to approximately 300 km of the provincial capital Kananga)?, declared in AFP Dr. Beno?t Kebelo, secretary general with Health.

?We currently have in this zone two types of epidemics: the viral hemorrhagic fever Ebola, counters which it does not have there treatment and which is mortal in 80% of the cases, and a bloody diarrhoea accompanied by fevers cephalgias, which corresponds in particular to shigellosis, for which there is an antibiotic treatment?, he specified.

The person in charge stressed that since the beginning of this crisis, the end of April 2007, only five cases of Ebola and one of shigellosis had been formally identified in international laboratories.

?The last assessment that we have is of 169 deaths for 376 listed cases (against 166 per 372 on September 12). It is necessary to take these figures with precaution. There are symptoms which can correspond to various diseases and we do not know yet which is the extent of Ebola or shigellosis?, it insisted.

The first symptoms of these epidemics were identified from April 27 in the area of Kampungu, on the axis Kananga-Luebo-Mweka, a wedged area of Western Kasa?.

Fine September August-beginning, after the confirmation of a first case of Ebola, Doctors without borders - Belgium (MSF-B), which was already established in Kampungu, started to reinforce its teams on the spot and the World Health Organization (WHO) dispatched an important delegation of Geneva, as well as drugs and kits of protection for the looking after teams.

?We installed a center of insulation in a hangar, beside the center of health of Kampungu. Thursday evening, we had three patients in a serious state, in total insulation, and two in moderate monitoring. Six others, convalescents, return the every day for a follow-up?, declared with AFP Sylvaine Lonlas, medical coordinator of MSF-B in DRC.
On its side, the ministry for health reinforced its presence in the area, with ?a hundred personnel?, including/understanding doctors, male nurses, logisticians and sensitizers.

?Our priority is to sensitize the population, to avoid the movements of panic, to prevent the assemblies such as for example at the time them mournings and to make so that any suspect case is immediately directed towards a center of health?, explained Dr. Kebelo, adding that its teams needed in particular bicycles ?to traverse all the zone around Kampungu?.

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) of Atlanta - which identified one of the first cases of Ebola - should quickly send a epidemiologist and to on the spot set up a laboratory, to allow a more precise diagnosis of pathologies, one learned from several medical sources.

Very contagious, the hemorrhagic fever Ebola already struck ex-Zaire twice in 1976 and 1995. The virus holds its name of a river of the North-West of the country, where it was located for the first time in 1976.

It had killed nearly 500 people on both sides of the border between Sudan and ex-Zaire (become since the DRC). It r??merg? in 1979 in Sudan, then again in Zaire in 1995, where it had made 245 died out of 315 cases in the province of Bandundu (western).:tiphat:

http://www.monuc.org/news.aspx?newsID=15413

Congo - Ebola - 183 deaths + 187 suspected cases

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