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Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreaks in West Africa (Guinea & Cote d’Ivoire) - Partner Briefing

Países
Guinea
+ 1
Fuentes
WHO
Fecha de publicación

Key messages:

  • Côte d’Ivoire declared its first Ebola outbreak in more than 25 years this weekend. This is of concern as the patient travelled from a rural area in Guinea and it’s likely the outbreak response will be in two countries and cover rural and urban communities.

  • However, much of the world’s expertise and tools for tackling Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreaks such as Ebola and Marburg are within Africa. Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea can tap into this.

  • The Ebola and Marburg outbreaks come as the continent battles COVID-19 which puts a strain on resources and staffing.

  • These outbreaks are proof that other health crises don’t stop just because we are in the midst of a global pandemic. We must remain vigilant so that other dangerous diseases are not given the opportunity to spread.

Current Situation

Marburg Outbreak, Guinea

On August 3, 2021, notification was received of a community death of a 46-year-old in Koundou Sub-prefecture of Gueckedou Préfecture. On August 4, 2021 the deceased was confirmed as a case of Marburg Virus. To date, 173 contacts of the index Marburg case have been listed and 172 are under follow up. The Marburg outbreak is in the same locality (Gueckedou Prefecture) where an outbreak of EVD has recently been contained after five months and declared over on 19 June 2021. By 19th June 2021, 23 EVD cases (16 confirmed, seven probable) of EVD including 12 deaths were reported.

Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak, Côte d’Ivoire

On August 14, 2021, the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage was informed by the Institut Pasteur in Cote d’Ivoire, of a positive case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the commercial capital of Abidjan, after arriving from Guinea.

The index case is an 18-year-old girl of Guinean nationality who left Labé in Guinea for Abidjan by road. She arrived in Côte d’Ivoire on August 11, 2021 after a five-day journey, was admitted for care on August 12, 2021 with symptoms of fever. This is so far being treated as an isolated and imported case however preliminary genetic sequencing indicates possible linkage to the 2014-2016 EVD outbreak in Guinea.

This year, Ebola outbreaks have been declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea, but it is the first time an outbreak has occurred in a large capital city such as Abidjan since the 2014–2016 West Ebola outbreak.