Health officials face challenges with contact tracing as the outbreak continues
Credit: Michel Lunanga/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ministry of Public Health confirmed 1,003 cases and 254 deaths in the ongoing Ebola outbreak
- The outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo strain for which no vaccine currently exists
- Health officials have not identified patient zero and contact tracing has reached only 55% of potential exposures
More than 1,000 cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as health officials struggle to contain the current outbreak.
As of late Sunday, June 21, the country's Ministry of Public Health confirmed that 1,003 people had been infected while the death count is now 254. Additionally, 100 people have recovered and 365 patients are hospitalized or in isolation.
“The threshold of 1,000 confirmed cases has been crossed,” the ministry said. “Despite this progression, response teams continue active investigations, epidemiological surveillance, and prevention actions in affected areas.”
Meanwhile, neighboring Uganda has reported 19 confirmed cases and two confirmed deaths.
This comes more than a month after officials declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is currently no vaccine.
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Credit: Michel Lunanga/Getty
Local authorities said that contact tracing has been a main issue, reaching only about 55% of those who may have been exposed. Health officials have also still not identified patient zero, and traced more than 35,000 people who have come in contact with infected patients as of last week.
“If you want to control an outbreak, especially Ebola outbreak, you must know the index case. We don't have confidence on when this outbreak started,” the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya told the Associated Press.
On May 17, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease a public health emergency of international concern. International parties have been urged to work together to effectively monitor the outbreak and help prevent the disease from spreading further.
“The event requires international coordination and cooperation to understand the extent of the outbreak, to coordinate surveillance, prevention and response efforts, to scale up and strengthen operations and ensure the ability to implement control measures,” said WHO.
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The United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was informed about the Ebola outbreak by the Ugandan government on May 15, and is supporting the response efforts overseas, according to Reuters.
"CDC has extensive experience and expertise in responding to Ebola outbreaks, and we are working closely with the DRC Ministry of Health through our country office to support our response efforts," CDC Acting Director Jay Bhattacharya told the outlet.
Shortly after, the CDC announced that enhanced Ebola screening measures were implemented at Washington Dulles International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The agency said the enhanced screenings are part of a broader, layered public health strategy that also includes overseas exit screenings, airline illness reporting and post-arrival public health monitoring.
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