{Click on Image to Enlarge}
___
Event description
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains in a phase of intense and expanding transmission, with cumulative deaths crossing the grim milestone of 2,000 only 86 days after the outbreak was officially declared on 15 May 2026.
Since External Situation Report #12, an additional 579 confirmed cases and 304 confirmed deaths have been reported, bringing the cumulative total to 4,381 confirmed cases and 2,011 confirmed deaths as of 9 August 2026, corresponding to a case fatality ratio of 45.9%.
Ituri remains the epicentre, accounting for 85.8% of cumulative cases and 80.6% of cumulative deaths.
{Click on Image to Enlarge}
___
The epidemic is increasingly characterized by sustained transmission within interconnected geographic clusters alongside continued geographic expansion.
The Bunia–Rwampara–Mongbwalu–Nizi corridor remains the principal transmission focus, while persistent transmission in North Kivu and increasing activity in Haut-Uélé indicate spread beyond the original Ituri epicentre.
The number of affected health zones increased from 51 in External Situation Report #12 to 53 as of 9 August 2026, with Gombari in Haut-Uélé and Bafwasende in Tshopo being the most recently affected health zones.
Overall, the outbreak now affects 53 of 140 health zones across five provinces.
(...)
Persistently high mortality continues to highlight gaps in early detection and timely access to care.
Community deaths remain frequent, with 34 of 51 reported deaths (66.7%) occurring outside treatment centres on 9 August 2026.
Surveillance performance improved, with all 242 validated suspected cases being investigated on 9 August 2026.
Contact follow-up also increased to 86.7%, exceeding 85% for the first time, although performance remained substantially lower in Haut-Uélé at 57.9%, partly due to incomplete reporting.
Despite these improvements, gaps in alert reporting, contact identification and follow-up around confirmed cases persist.
Treatment capacity also remains under pressure, with several treatment and transit centres in Ituri saturated, while North Kivu continues to face constraints in referral capacity and Haut-Uélé still lacks a standard Ebola treatment centre in its six affected health zones.
Intense transmission is also occurring against a backdrop of increasing operational and workforce pressures.
Challenges related to the timely remuneration of response personnel have been reported in some affected areas, with potential implications for workforce motivation and the continuity of response activities, including community-based interventions and operations at points of entry and points of control.
Community resistance, insecurity and operational incidents continued to pose challenges to the timely implementation of response activities, including safe and dignified burials.
These pressures are particularly concerning as epidemiological analyses indicate that transmission is occurring faster than cases are being detected and isolated, while contact-tracing capacity is increasingly stretched.
Despite the absence of further international transmission, the continued high incidence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo poses a substantial risk of cross-border spread, particularly to Uganda and South Sudan through major population movement corridors.
Surveillance at points of entry (PoEs) and points of control (PoCs) continued along key mobility corridors, although operational constraints persist at some sites.
Continued strengthening of cross-border surveillance, information sharing and coordination with neighbouring countries remains essential for the early detection and management of potential cross-border transmission.
Uganda and France
No new BVD cases have been reported in Uganda. The last confirmed patient was discharged on 16 July 2026, and all identified contacts subsequently completed follow-up. As of 9 August 2026, 24 days had elapsed since the last patient's discharge without a new confirmed case. However, continued high transmission in neighbouring eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo poses a risk of reintroduction.
France has reported no secondary transmission following the imported case detected on 24 June 2026. The patient recovered and was discharged on 4 July 2026 after two consecutive negative polymerase chain (PCR) test results, and all five identified flight contacts completed 21 days of follow-up without developing symptoms. As of 9 August 2026, 36 days had elapsed since the patient's discharge without an additional confirmed case being reported in France.
(...)
Situation interpretation
The BVD outbreak remains uncontrolled, with transmission continuing to outpace response capacity. Persistent community deaths, geographic expansion and gaps in contact follow-up indicate continued undetected community transmission, while pressure on treatment facilities, uneven infection prevention and control capacity, workforce constraints and community resistance continue to challenge response effectiveness.
The response should now shift to targeted interruption of transmission in the main clusters and emerging hotspots, while deepening community leadership and ownership of the response. This requires empowering trusted local leaders and community networks to drive active case finding, contact tracing, early care- seeking, and safe and dignified burials, alongside faster case investigation and isolation and rapid infection prevention and control interventions. Workforce and payment constraints require urgent resolution, while neighbouring countries should maintain heightened preparedness given the continued risk of cross-border spread.
Source:
Link: https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/ebola-disease
____
No comments:
Post a Comment