Date: Wed 31 Dec 2008
Source: Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Field News [edited]
<http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=3297>
The number of people with suspected Ebola hemorrhagic fever in the
Mweka district of Western Kasai [Kasai Occidental] Province, in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo DR), is now 38, including 12 who
have died. This is the 2nd outbreak of its kind in just over a year
in Western Kasai; the current outbreak claimed its 1st life on 27 Nov
2008.
Last week [ending 27 Dec 2008], international medical humanitarian
organization Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
sent a team of expert medical and non-medical staff to the area. A
team of 16 are now working around the clock to contain this deadly
epidemic. MSF built a small isolation unit in Kaluamba, the
worst-affected village in Mweka district. Here, to reduce the risk of
the virus spreading, patients who are already sick, along with others
who are suspected of having Ebola, are separated from the community
and cared for. Currently, there are 2 patients in this special ward.
MSF also set up another isolation center further north in the
district, in Kampungu. This center can host up to 25 patients if the
outbreak extends even further.
Ebola is a highly contagious and deadly viral disease. It is
transmitted between people through contact with body fluids (blood,
vomit, diarrhea). Thus, because of their proximity to the patients,
both health staff and family members are at serious risk of
contracting the disease. MSF hired and trained a dozen local "home
visitors" to help reduce the spread of the outbreak. These home
visitors identify and follow up with those people who have had any
contact with the disease. Currently, there are 184 people who must be
tracked. Another 36 local people travel throughout the communities
ensuring that people are properly informed about the disease and are
aware of the health services available to them.
MSF is closely monitoring what could possibly be new pockets of Ebola
in the same district of Mweka. However, other diseases, including
malaria and shigellosis, which can also have similar flu-like
symptoms to Ebola's in the 1st stages, have been confirmed in the
area. Thus, confirmation is still pending from the laboratories to
determine whether these new cases are Ebola or not.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[Since the previous report from the Mweka district on 28 Dec 2008,
the number of fatalities has increased from 11 to 12 and the number
of suspected cases from 21 to 38. Another 184 people are possible
contacts who remain under surveillance. The above report includes a
photograph (which can be accessed via the above URL) of MSF staff in
protective gear working in an isolation unit for patients suspected
of having Ebola in Kaluamba, Western Kasai Province.
A map of the Democratic Republic of the Congo can be accessed at
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/congo_demrep_pol98.jpg>,
and the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map is available at
<http://healthmap.org/promed/en?g=214139&v=-4.5,22,5>.
The location of Mweka District can be found at:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mweka,_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo>.
- Mod.CP]
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