Two young doctors died from Ebola last week in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), bringing the number of healthcare professionals reported to have died from the epidemic to three, reports The Eastleigh Voice.
The two, Dr Marie-France Shogogo and Dr Samuel Safari, died on 27 and 29 October, respectively, in North Kivu and Ituri. The first doctor to succumb to the epidemic was Dr Charles Mbusa Munyumu, a neurosurgeon who died on 10 August at the Katwa Ebola Treatment Centre.
Safari had practised for only two years, having studied in Goma, North Kivu, before moving to Ituri to practise at a local health facility.
Shogogo died at the Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) in Beni, North Kivu. She had graduated from the University of Goma’s Faculty of Medicine three years earlier.
The deaths underscore the risks involved in responding to the epidemic and the need to adequately equip frontline healthcare workers to prevent further losses in the region.
As of Tuesday this week, the DRC had recorded 10 193 confirmed cases (up from 9 704 the previous week), including 4 960 deaths, representing a case fatality rate of 48.7%; it chalked up 489 additional cases, and 273 additional deaths in a single week.
Fifty-two new cases were reported in the previous 24 hours, with Ituri remaining the epicentre of the outbreak, which has spread to eight provinces.
Meaanwhile, one of Africa’s top health officials has warned that the “unprecedented” spread of the Ebola virus means it could reach Britain and other countries, reports The Guardian.
Already sitting at more than 10 000 cases and 5 000 deaths, the outbreak has been compared by Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the Covid pandemic.
“We want all countries to know they are not safe if they don’t take appropriate measures,” he said.
“Each country, not only in the African region, but all continents, must now increase the preparedness level and the possibility for treatment.
“It is the first time three African regions have been affected [by Ebola]. The geographic extension of this outbreak is unprecedented,” he added.
Kaseya warned that leaders around the world should realise that although the brunt of the health crisis is affecting Africa at the moment, the situation could change.
“We shouldn’t forget that at the beginning of Covid, many countries said there was zero risk of being affected, but a few months later, they became the hotspot,” he said. “We don’t want to see the UK and other countries become the hotspot.”
This outbreak, the 17th in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since Ebola was identified, was caused by the Bundibugyo virus and has become the largest and deadliest in the country’s history.
On 15 May, the DRC Health Ministry declared an outbreak in Ituri province, though sequencing shows it had begun in February. It has now spread to Kenya and Uganda in east Africa, while last week, west Africa (Nigeria).
France is the only non-African country to have confirmed a case of Ebola so far – a doctor who had returned from the Congo – in June.
The Bundibugyo virus has no approved treatment, though vaccine trials are under way. The results should be available in three to six months, said Kaseya.
Of the total 10 091 cases, 10 060 have occurred in the DRC, with 4 887 deaths. Two people have died in Uganda, and two in Kenya.
The response to the crisis has been hampered by inadequate protective equipment and unpaid health worker wages, leading to strikes. Conflict in the Congo as well as mistrust towards officials in affected areas, misinformation and global aid cuts have further complicated the situation.
Kaseya was to convene a meeting of African Health Ministers last week to urge greater cross-border co-operation. He wants governments to introduce screening and testing for people coming from affected regions at points of entry and exit.
At a meeting in November with African heads of state, Kaseya will call for a “corridor of peace” in conflict areas. “Currently, we have colleagues in Ituri who want to go and support the population, but they cannot because of insecurity,” he said. “I have to say to leaders, this outbreak is not for rebels, it’s not for the official army, it’s for everyone. Ebola can affect everyone … We need to come together to have a kind of agreement on how to protect each other.”
Kaseya called for a global effort to fund the response. He said governments had pledged $3bn but that more than $2bn was still outstanding. African countries had committed $120m, he said, while the rest is meant to come from international donors including the US, the UK and the EU.
“We need this money now,” he said. “We must understand that failure to provide funding now to African countries [will result in more being spent] because the outbreak will continue to move. If we have other countries affected, we’ll be talking about trillions of dollars because it will require a lot of support to stop this outbreak.”
The Guardian – Africa’s ‘unprecedented’ Ebola outbreak could reach UK, says top health official
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