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Great Lakes Region: Humanitarian Snapshot (September - October 2018)

Countries
DR Congo
+ 10 more
Sources
OCHA
Publication date

OVERVIEW

The number of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) more than doubled from the end of August to the end of October, and the outbreak was declared at very high risk of spreading to neighbouring countries. By 31 October, 296 cases, including 263 confirmed and 186 deaths, had been reported, up from 120 cases at the end of August. Despite significant improvements in October, response to the outbreak was hindered by insecurity and community resistance. Meanwhile, preliminary results indicate that about 13.1 million people across DRC are estimated to be facing Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and Emergency (IPC Phase 4) food insecurity.

There was also an upsurge in cholera and measles in several countries in the Great Lakes region in September and October. DRC – where the rainy season began in areas south of the Equator in October - reported more than 7,500 new suspected cholera cases, including 280 deaths, while Tanzania reported more than 630 new suspected cholera cases, including 14 deaths, between September and October. More than over 4,400 new suspected measles cases, including 192 deaths, were reported in DRC, while Uganda reported more than 900 cases, including one death in October. Other life-threatening diseases also remained present in the region. Three new cases of Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), including two confirmed cases, were reported in Uganda in October, while DRC reported two new cases of vaccine-derived polio in September.

Although the number of refugees and asylum seekers in the region decreased - primarily due to the verification exercise in Uganda – new displacement and population movements were reported in multiple locations.congo More than 340,000 Congolese were returned from Angola in October, including at least 80,000 children in need of urgent humanitarian assistance and more than 2,300 Congolese citizens holding refugee documents from Angola. The majority arrived in the Greater Kasai region, which is still recovering from large-scale violence in 2017. Meanwhile, in September, more than 8,300 Congolese sought asylum in neighbouring countries. Also in September, more than 6,600 Burundian refugees were assisted to return from Tanzania, while 242 new Burundian arrivals were recorded in the region. In Uganda, an estimated 1.15 million refugees and asylum seekers were verified, down from the operational figure of 1.5 million in August.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.