Death toll nears 3,000 as authorities expand vaccination drive to contain country’s deadliest-ever outbreak…reports Africa Daily News Desk
Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have surpassed 6,000, with nearly 3,000 deaths recorded as authorities step up vaccination efforts to contain the country’s deadliest outbreak on record.
As of Saturday, the DRC had reported 6,041 confirmed cases and 2,911 deaths across six provinces, resulting in a case fatality rate of 48.2 per cent, local authorities said. A total of 1,366 patients have recovered.
The outbreak has spread across 60 health zones in Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele and Tshopo provinces, according to figures reported by Xinhua News Agency.
Declared in May, the outbreak has become the largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic ever recorded in the DRC and the second-largest globally, behind the devastating 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak.
Authorities have intensified efforts to curb the spread of the virus, launching a vaccination campaign last week in the northeastern province of Tshopo.
DRC Health Minister Roger Kamba officially launched the rollout in Kisangani, the provincial capital, with healthcare workers and other frontline personnel among the first to receive the Ervebo vaccine under a compassionate-use framework.
“We have decided to use the Ervebo vaccine to protect first those who are on the front line, therefore our healthcare providers, but also people who have been in contact with patients,” Kamba said.
More than 50,000 doses of the vaccine have been received by the country, according to the minister.
The Health Ministry said the vaccination programme would strengthen existing measures aimed at protecting communities, breaking chains of transmission and containing the disease.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) confirmed that preventive vaccination had begun in Kisangani and said the campaign would eventually cover 14 selected health zones in Tshopo, Bas-Uele and Haut-Uele.
Africa CDC’s Director for Research, Clinical Trials and Innovation, Placide Mbala Kingebeni, said healthcare and frontline workers were initially being prioritised under the compassionate-use programme.
Authorities will also collect data during the rollout to assess the vaccine’s potential effectiveness against the Bundibugyo ebolavirus responsible for the current outbreak.
The escalating toll has heightened concerns over the outbreak, with health authorities racing to expand vaccination and other containment measures across affected regions.
