Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says the eleventh outbreak of Ebola in Équateur province, northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been successfully contained.

MSF, in a statement, said the introduction of the latest medical tools, including vaccines, and the strengthening of community-based surveillance contributed to the containment of the disease almost six months after it started.

The outbreak, the eleventh recorded in the country’s recent history, spread relatively slowly after it was declared on 1 June, 2020.

It was learnt that the country’s Ministry of Health said 130 patients were reported as having been infected, of which 55 people died.

According to MSF, the 42.3 percent mortality rate was significantly lower than the 66 percent observed during the previous outbreak.

The humanitarian organisation said more than 1,450 consultations were carried out across 28 health centres in five health districts among those that reported Ebola cases or had unexplained deaths in the community.

It said local medical staff were trained on treating the disease and donations were made to support local health centres.

‘We took advantage of lessons learnt during the previous outbreak’, MSF Emergency Manager, Dr Guyguy Manangama, said.

‘These allowed for a better management of the situation in Équateur though the two contexts are different.

“During the tenth outbreak, our intervention sometimes faced challenges in terms of its acceptance by people because it was too centralised.

‘This time, we favoured a decentralised approach and kept people informed at all times about the intervention and the surveillance mechanism, to improve access to healthcare in the region’.

Source: MSF

Photo source: EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid