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Democratic Republic of Congo News

WHO calls for free and secure access in responding to Ebola outbreak in the Democrat...

WHO’s global and African regional leadership saw first-hand the complexities of implementing the Ebola response in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in visits with the Ministry of Health officials to affected areas over the last two days. While this is the country’s 10th Ebola outbreak, it is the first time that the disease has struck a densely populated active conflict zone.
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Ebola vaccination begins in North Kivu

8 August 2018, Mangina/Geneva - The Ministry of Public Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo today announced the launch of Ebola vaccinations for high risk populations in North Kivu province.

The vaccinations have begun just one week after the announcement of a second outbreak of Ebola this year in the country. A total of 44 cases have been reported so far, of which 17 have been confirmed.

Work has begun to prepare ring vaccination in the Mangina health area, 30km from the town of Beni.

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An inclusive response: reaching Batwa communities to combat Ebola

6 July 2018

Dr Bijoux Sambu Fiti is part of the surveillance team working in Itipo, a small community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that has been battling Ebola since May. Her job is to go deep into the forest around Itipo to seek out sick people in Batwa villages potentially suffering from undiagnosed cases of Ebola. The Batwa, which is the plural term for Twa people, are hunter-gatherers living primarily off the forest.

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Bringing Ebola vaccine to remote communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo

It’s been nearly twenty years since the residents of Bosolo village in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo have seen a car. 

“Bosolo is a village which is about 25 km from Iboko centre, but on this road 25 km can take two or more hours to travel,” said Dr Ismaila Ibrahim Mamane Sani, Co-coordinator of WHO’s Ring Vaccination in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

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On the hunt for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Marie-Roseline Darnycka Bélizaire is on the front-lines of the battle against Ebola.

She’s leading the hunt for the virus in the Itipo area in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The communities at risk are spread out over a wide area and the roads are bad. Her team of more than 20 field epidemiologists is using mostly motorcycles to get around.

Marie-Roseline Belizaire said “We have to go sometimes as far as 80 km from the coordination base, so in a day we can do 160 km.”

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New Ebola outbreak declared in Democratic Republic of the Congo

8 May 2018 News Release Geneva/Brazzaville/Kinshasa The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a new outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Bikoro in Equateur Province today (8 May 2018). The outbreak declaration occurred after laboratory results confirmed two cases of EVD.
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