ReliefWeb

1. Situation update

WHO, UN Agencies, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and partners continue to support the Ministry of Health (MoH) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to rapidly investigate and respond to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Likati Health Zone, Bas Uele Province in the north-east of the country.

On 12 June 2017, no new confirmed or probable cases were reported. Since the last situation update on 9 June, 33 alerts have been reported and investigated, of which 1 currently fulfils the suspected case definition, a sample has been taken for laboratory analysis and results are pending. The last confirmed case was isolated on 17 May 2017 and tested negative for EVD by PCR for the second time on 21 May 2017.

There are currently a total of five confirmed, three probable and 1 suspected case. Of the confirmed and probable cases, four survived and four died, resulting in a case fatality rate of 50%. The confirmed and probable cases were reported from Nambwa (four confirmed and two probable), Ngayi (one probable) and Mabongo (one confirmed). The current suspected case was reported in Mobenge.
Data modelling suggests that the risk of further cases is currently low but not negligible, and decreases with each day without new confirmed/probable cases. As of the reporting date, 90% of simulated scenarios predict no further cases in the next 30 days.

All seven response committees are maintaining functionality at the national level, namely monitoring, case management, water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and biosafety, laboratory and research, psychosocial management, logistics, and communication. A response team will remain in the affected areas until the declaration of the end of the outbreak.

This EVD outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was notified to WHO by the MoH on 11 May 2017. The cluster of cases and deaths of previously unidentified illness had been reported since late April 2017. Likati Health Zone shares borders with two provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and with the Central African Republic (Figure 1). The affected area is remote and hard to reach, with limited communication and transport infrastructure.