NOTE TO EDITORS
13 June 2019
Update On African Union Actions in Response to Recent Ebola Outbreaks
Following the recent outbreak of Ebola cases reported in Uganda, The African Union (AU) is collaborating with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uganda to mobilise support to ensure adequate response and implementation of prevention and control measures, including deployment of senior experts from the AU’s Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Africa CDC teams are also currently deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and have been involved in implementing key interventions in partnership with the Government and other partners.
SUMMARY OF AFRICA CDC ACTIVITIES IN THE DRC:
1. Deployment of Public Health Experts.
• Africa CDC deployed 41 experts both at national and regional level who have been involved in contact tracing, immunization, data management and training of local health workers and partner staff. The following experts were also involved in mass sensitisation, public education and coordination with partners:
o Epidemiologists 17
o Infection prevention and control specialists 8
o Laboratory scientists 4
o Anthropologist 1
o Communication experts 3
o Data manager 1
o Logistician 1
o Central Support team 4
o National coordination team 2
2. Provision of Laboratory Services.
• Africa CDC provided laboratory diagnosis services in 6 health zones.
• 6 GeneXpert Machines with more than 3000 cartridges.
• Laboratories in Goma and Butembo entirely equipped and run by Africa CDC.
• Improved lab capacity and turn-around time of lab results in the field area.
3. Contact tracing and surveillance.
• Africa CDC is fully responsible for surveillance and alert investigation in Butembo and Tshomia Health zones.
• 17 epidemiologists and 8 infection prevention experts were involved in active case and contact search and follow up in the villages.
• Investigating alerts reports in the community and providing reports for follow up action
• Close monitoring of field operations and support to field missions.
4. Infection Prevention and Control.
• Trained 469 health workers, traditional healers and teachers.
• Provide personal protection equipment (PPEs) to 13 health centres and hospital.
• Evaluated the state of hygiene in several health centres, training health workers, supporting schools and churches by providing facilities of washing hands.
• A training video on how to correctly wash hands was produced by both the IPC and communication team and was broadcasted on the national television and others national private media institutions.
5. Port of Entry Screening.
• Africa CDC is supporting Port of entry screening training in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and to date a total of 350 people have been trained.
• A cumulative total of 770 alerts were notified, of which 320 were validated, nine of which were confirmed to be EVD following laboratory testing.
6. Vaccinations.
• Africa CDC worked with the Ministry of Health DRC, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and other partners to vaccinate 104,342 people in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri
Summary of Ebola Situation in Uganda
As of 13 June 2019, 3 confirmed cases including two deaths have been reported in Kasese district, Uganda since the declaration of the first case on 11 June 2019. The cases are 5-year old male (deceased), 50-year old grandmother (deceased), and 3-year old brother (alive). On 13 June 2019, DRC team repatriated five people; mother of the deceased 5-year old male, the 3-year old brother (confirmed), her 6-month old baby, the father of deceased index and maid.
Currently, there are 3 suspected cases not related to the index case have been isolated in Bwera ebola Treatment unit. Their blood samples were taken to Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) for testing. Also 27 contacts of the deceased index case are under follow up.
Summary of Ebola Situation in DRC
As of 8 June 2019, a total of 2,056 EVD cases, including 1,962 confirmed and 94 probable cases have been reported. To date, confirmed cases have been reported from 22 health zones in North Kivu Province and Ituri Province. As of 8 June 2019, 11 health zones have reported at least one confirmed case in the last 21 days (19 May to 8 June 2019). A total of 1,384 deaths were recorded, including 1,290 among confirmed cases, resulting in a case fatality ratio among confirmed cases of 66% (1,290/1,962). A health worker was among the new confirmed cases reported on 8 June 2019, bringing the cumulative total number of affected health workers to 112 (5% of confirmed and probable cases). Mabalako, Butembo and Katwa remain the main areas of active transmission, reporting 27% (64/234), 22% (52/234) and 15% (35/234) of confirmed cases in the past 21 days respectively. Contact tracing is ongoing in 16 health zones. A total of 15,045 contacts were recorded as of 8 June 2019, of which 12,503 have been seen in the past 24 hours (83%; varies between 39-100% among reporting zones). Alerts in the two affected provinces continue to be raised and investigated. Of 1,159 alerts processed (of which 1 027 were new) in reporting health zones on 8 June 2019, 1 050 were investigated and 271 (26%) were validated as suspected cases.
For more information and inquiries contact:
1) Mrs. Wynne Musabayana| Head of Communication | Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission I E-mail: MusabayanaW@africa-union.org
2) Mr. Gamal Ahmed A. Karrar| Communication Officer| Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission | E-mail: GamalK@africa-union.org
3) Mr. James AYODELE | Senior Communications Officer | Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, African Union Commission I E-mail | AyodeleJ@africa-union.org | Tel.: +251 953 912 454
