Ebola virus outbreak returns to the Democratic Republic of Congo: An urgent rising concern

Jeffrey Sun, Olivier Uwishema*, Hadi Kassem, Mortada Abbass, Lama Uweis, Anushree Rai, Rayyan El Saleh, Irem Adanur, Helen Onyeaka

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalLetterpeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)
74 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

On April 23, 2022, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced an EVD outbreak after discovering 2 confirmed cases and identifying 267 contacts. With collaboration from the WHO, the MoH are taking many interventions to prevent further expansion of this outbreak. Forty-six years ago, the Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in the DRC. Since then, 13 outbreaks of EVD have occurred in the DRC and, in 2020, it witnessed the second largest EVD outbreak in the world, resulting in 3481 cases and 2299 mortalities. This article discusses the epidemiology of the current DRC outbreak by examining the etiology of EVD, the number of affected cases, and the subsequent case index. Considering these data, this paper discusses measures taken by the MoH, WHO, CDC, and UNICEF to mitigate the Ebola outbreak, such as supporting local teams to provide essential care, training medical staff, and raising awareness for vaccination. Finally, by comparing the gravity of the situation to current measures, this article provides recommendations for individuals and governments to protect themselves and mitigate future outbreaks.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103958
Number of pages5
JournalAnnals of Medicine and Surgery
Volume79
Early online date6 Jun 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors

Keywords

  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • DRC
  • Ebola
  • Ebola virus
  • Ebola virus disease

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Surgery

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