Ebola Virus Disease

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution calling for an immediate halt to attacks by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo that are jeopardising the response to the Ebola outbreak. A resolution adopted Tuesday said the security situation in the areas affected by the Ebola outbreak "is severely hampering the response efforts and facilitating the spread of the virus" in DRC and the region. The Security Council expressed "great concern about the potential for the virus to spread into Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi." DRC's health ministry said last week that teams responding to the Ebola outbreak are being attacked three or four times a week on average. The ministry has reported 239 confirmed cases and 35 probable cases as of Monday. At least 120 people have died. * Sign up to News24's top Africa news in your inbox: SUBSCRIBE TO THE HELLO AFRICA NEWSLETTER FOLLOW News24 Africa on  Twitter  and  Facebook https:/...

Two more Ebola infections have been confirmed in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Ebola outbreak, both from Beni, which has been the outbreak's main hot spot over the past several weeks. Also today the World Health Organization (WHO) said four of the most recent cases involved healthcare workers, and in research developments, scientists yesterday reported durable immune response for three Ebola vaccines, including the one currently deployed in the DRC. Beni accounts for nearly half of all outbreak cases The pair of newly confirmed cases reported from Beni lift the overall outbreak total to 276, which includes 241 confirmed and 35 probable infections, according to the health ministry's daily update. Of the case total, nearly half (134) are from Beni, where responders have grappled not only with security problems due to conflict between rebel groups and armed forces, but also pockets of community resistance. One new death was reported, which involved a patient from Beni. ...

Written by Harrison Cook | October 31, 2018 | Print  | Email Three experimental Ebola vaccines, one of which is currently being used in the Democratic Republic of Congo, generate an immune response against Ebola that will last for 2 1/2 years, according to research presented Oct. 29 at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in New Orleans. Here are three things to know: 1. For the study, researchers analyzed blood samples taken from human volunteers who received one of three vaccine regimens about two years ago. 2. Analysis showed all three experimental Ebola vaccines produced a strong antibody response to the disease, even 2 1/2 years after immunization. The vaccines could offer protection for longer, but researchers noted 2 1/2 years is the longest experts have tracked Ebola vaccine responses in humans. 3. Health workers in the Congo are using Merck's experimental vaccine to contain the ongoing Ebola outbreak. Researchers said one of the vaccine...

Over the weekend and today, officials recorded 17 more cases of Ebola and 10 more deaths in the ongoing outbreak in the far eastern reaches of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Eleven of the new cases were in Beni, the outbreak epicenter, and the remaining 6 were recorded in nearby Butembo. The new infections bring the total number of cases to 274, including 139 deaths. Thirty-two suspected cases are under investigation. At least one of the deaths over the weekend was a community death in Butembo, DRC officials said. Community deaths pose a greater threat of virus spread than those that occur in a hospital or Ebola treatment center because of the likelihood of added exposure. From Oct 22 to Oct 28, DRC officials confirmed 36 new cases (28 in Beni and 8 in Butembo) and 19 deaths.   Outbreak is DRC's 3rd largest Though the outbreak is small compared with the 2014-2016 West African outbreak (which saw more than 28,000 cases), Congolese officials noted it has now s...

Situation Update The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to be closely monitored by the Ministry of Health (MoH), WHO and partners. Of concern is the increased incidence of confirmed cases reported in the past four weeks, most notably in the city of Beni and communities around Butembo. Security remains the biggest challenge faced by the response teams in Beni and Butembo, undermining the response activities. Continued security incidents severely impact both civilians and frontline workers, forcing suspension of EVD response activities and increasing the risk that the virus will continue to spread. Moreover, with heightened transmission of the virus in outbreak affected areas, the risk of exportation of cases to neighbouring provinces and countries is increased. Neighbouring countries need to be ready in case the outbreak spreads beyond the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since WHO’s last situation report ...

Last month Virgil Attia found himself surrounded by an angry crowd. "Some of them had picked up rocks," he recalls, speaking in French. "Some had empty bottles." Attia is an official with the International Federation of the Red Cross. He's originally from Benin but based in a city in Democratic Republic of the Congo that is the current epicenter of an Ebola outbreak that has been raging there since August. When someone in the community dies of Ebola at home, the Red Cross has been sending teams to collect the body and conduct a safe burial. Normally Attia coordinates these teams out of his office. But on this day he had come along as a team set out to pick up the body of a 7-year-old boy. Attia says the crowd of about 150 people started gathering as soon as the team arrived in the neighborhood. At first people were just watching as the team pulled on protective suits and walked into the house. Then, says Attia, just as the team was about to put the boy int...

Written by Harrison Cook | October 31, 2018 | Print  | Email Health officials reported 17 new cases and 10 deaths in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, making this the nation's third largest outbreak of the virus, according to an update from University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease and Research and Policy in Minneapolis. Eleven of the new Ebola cases occurred in the city of Beni. The remaining six occurred in the nearby city of Butembo. As of Oct. 28, the World Health Organization confirmed 274 total Ebola cases and 174 deaths linked to the outbreak. The Congo has experienced ten Ebola outbreaks, including the current one. This outbreak has now surpassed the 2007 Ebola outbreak in the Congo's Luebo region, which caused265 cases and 187 deaths. On Oct. 28, health workers conducted Ebola response training with 8,000 young people in Butembo and Benito "increase the awareness actions for young people who are often at ...

Over the weekend and today, officials recorded 17 more cases of Ebola and 10 more deaths in the ongoing outbreak in the far eastern reaches of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Eleven of the new cases were in Beni, the outbreak epicenter, and the remaining 6 were recorded in nearby Butembo. The new infections bring the total number of cases to 274, including 139 deaths. Thirty-two suspected cases are under investigation. At least one of the deaths over the weekend was a community death in Butembo, DRC officials said. Community deaths pose a greater threat of virus spread than those that occur in a hospital or Ebola treatment center because of the likelihood of added exposure. From Oct 22 to Oct 28, DRC officials confirmed 36 new cases (28 in Beni and 8 in Butembo) and 19 deaths.   Outbreak is DRC's 3rd largest Though the outbreak is small compared with the 2014-2016 West African outbreak (which saw more than 28,000 cases), Congolese officials noted it has now s...

GENEVA (Reuters) – An Ebola outbreak that ravaged Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia in 2014 cost economies an estimated $53 billion, according to a study in this month’s Journal of Infectious Diseases. The study aimed to combine the direct economic burden and the indirect social impact to generate a comprehensive cost of the outbreak, which was the worst in the world. The outbreak ran from 2013 to 2016 and killed at least 11,300 people, more than all other known Ebola outbreaks combined. The vast majority of cases were in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The report’s authors, Caroline Huber, Lyn Finelli and Warren Stevens, put the economic costs at $14 billion and said the human cost was even greater, based on the people affected and a dollar figure that reflects the value of each human life. The total is far higher than previous estimates. In October 2014, the World Bank said the Ebola epidemic could cost $32.6 billion by the end of 2015 in a worst case scenario, but by November ...

Written by Mackenzie Bean | October 29, 2018 | Print  | Email Children in the Democratic Republic of Congo are dying "at an unprecedented rate" amid the nation's ongoing Ebola outbreak, the Congo's health ministry said Oct. 28, according to Reuters . Of the 120 confirmed Ebola cases in the city of Beni, about 30 occurred in children under age 10. Twenty-seven of those children died. "There is an abnormally high number of children who have contracted and died of Ebola in Beni. Normally, in every Ebola epidemic, children are not as affected," Jessica Ilunga, a spokeswoman for the health ministry, told Reuters . Many of the infected children had recently seen a medical practitioner or traditional healer in Beni, as it is peak malaria season in the area. Health officials cited poor sanitation and infection control practices at these clinics as the main cause of the heightened death rate. "Traditional healers use the same tools to treat everyone. A...

L ongtime Clinton loyalist and Democratic operative James Carville said Monday that the migrant caravan is "the Ebola of 2018." In recent weeks, news of a large group of Central American migrants pressing into Mexico on their way to the southern border of the U.S. has gripped headlines, particularly in right-leaning media. President Trump has called the caravan, which is still weeks away from getting close to the U.S.-Mexico border, an "invasion," and his administration is poised to send thousands of troops to help prevent migrants from illegally entering the country. During a discussion on foreign policy and the 2018 midterm elections in Washington, D.C., Carville said he sees a similar pattern now to the "crisis" that was Ebola in 2014, when the last midterm elections took place. "The caravan is the Ebola of 2018," Carville said. "And I bet the caravan is out of the news a week from tomorrow." The midterm elections are on Nov. ...

NEW ORLEANS (October 29, 2018)--In the midst of an increasingly volatile Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a new study presented today finds that the immune response generated by three experimental Ebola vaccines-- including one already deployed in the DRC --persists for at least two and a half years. The study, presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, could have implications far beyond the Ebola fight, said Katie Ewer, PhD, who conducted the study with colleague Matthew Snape, MD, at the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group, and Emma Thomson, PhD, at the University of Glasgow. Ewer said the impact is so far-reaching because the urgent need for Ebola vaccines has helped generate funding and scientific insights that could help expedite vaccines against several other diseases with significant outbreak potential, including Lassa fever, Nipah virus disease, and Middle East Respiratory synd...

AsianScientist (Oct. 29, 2018) – Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Japan, have imaged the structure of a key component of the Ebola virus at near-atomic resolution. They reported their findings in the journal Nature . Ebola is a severe disease characterized by symptoms such as fever, fatigue, diarrhea and vomiting which can lead to death if left untreated. While it has been largely eliminated in the developed world, a recent resurgence of the Ebola virus has occurred in Africa. The virus is transmitted to humans by direct contact with blood or other bodily secretions of infected animals, such as fruit bats and chimpanzees, after which human-to-human transmission is possible. In the present study, researchers led by Professor Matthias Wolf and Dr. Yukihiko Sugita of OIST’s Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit (MCEMU) have obtained an ultra-high-resolution image of the Ebola virus’ structure. They focused on a part of the virus called the nu...

NIH grant supports statistical assessment of the deadly disease’s spread Ebola is a zoonosis—a viral disease transmitted from animals to humans. Once symptoms appear after direct contact with infected body fluids, the risk of death is between 25 and 90 percent. Patients typically succumb to low blood pressure due to internal and external bleeding. The carriers of the Ebola virus are believed to be fruit bats, which are not affected by the disease. The bats are known as reservoirs, meaning they naturally harbor disease-causing organisms and serve as potential sources of disease outbreaks, for more than 60 zoonoses, including rabies, SARS, and Ebola. Though bats are essential members of the global ecosystem, they are also especially adept at harboring and spreading disease. To make matters worse, Ebola outbreaks are intermittent, and little is known about when, where or how the next one will occur. To better predict Ebola outbreaks and contain them before they spread, two Lehigh Univ...

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Oct 28 (Reuters) - C hildren in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are dying from Ebola at an unprecedented rate due largely to poor sanitary practices at clinics run by traditional healers, the health ministry said on Sunday. The impact on children has been felt acutely in the city of Beni, which has emerged as the outbreak’s new epicentre. Of 120 confirmed Ebola cases in Beni, at least 30 are under 10-years-old, and 27 of them have died, according to health ministry data. Many children affected by an unrelated malaria outbreak near Beni are thought to have contracted Ebola at clinics run by traditional healers who have also treated Ebola patients, said Jessica Ilunga, a spokeswoman for the health ministry. “There is an abnormally high number of children who have contracted and died of Ebola in Beni. Normally, in every Ebola epidemic, children are not as affected,” Ilunga told Reuters. “Traditional healers use the same tools to treat everyone....

Summary Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declared their tenth outbreak of Ebola in 40 years on 1 August 2018. The outbreak is centred in the town of Mangina, in the northeastern North Kivu province. 267 TOTAL CASES 232 CONFIRMED CASES 135 CONFIRMED DEATHS Retrospective investigations point to a possible start of the outbreak back in May – around the same time as the Equateur outbreak earlier in the year. Although no connection between the two outbreaks can be established, it cannot ruled out either. The delay in the alert and subsequent response can be attributed to several factors, including a breakdown of the surveillance system due to the security context (there are limitations on movement, and access is difficult) and a strike by the health workers of the area which began in May, due to non-payment of salaries. The initial alert came after a woman from Mangina was admitted to the local health centre on 19 July for a heart condition. She was discharged but died at home ...

NIH grant supports statistical assessment of the deadly disease’s spread Ebola is a zoonosis—a viral disease transmitted from animals to humans. Once symptoms appear after direct contact with infected body fluids, the risk of death is between 25 and 90 percent. Patients typically succumb to low blood pressure due to internal and external bleeding. The carriers of the Ebola virus are believed to be fruit bats, which are not affected by the disease. The bats are known as reservoirs, meaning they naturally harbor disease-causing organisms and serve as potential sources of disease outbreaks, for more than 60 zoonoses, including rabies, SARS, and Ebola. Though bats are essential members of the global ecosystem, they are also especially adept at harboring and spreading disease. To make matters worse, Ebola outbreaks are intermittent, and little is known about when, where or how the next one will occur. To better predict Ebola outbreaks and contain them before they spread, two Lehigh Univ...

The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed 164 lives, according to health authorities. In mid-October, Congolese authorities said they were facing a "second wave" of the outbreak centred on Beni, a town in North Kivu near the border with Uganda. The epicentre had earlier been focussed on Mangina, a town around 20km from Beni. In total, 257 cases had been recorded in the region, of which 222 were confirmed and 35 were probable, since the start of the outbreak at the beginning of August, the Congolese Health Ministry said in a bulletin dated Friday. On October 17, the World Health Organisation said the death toll stood at 139, although it said the outbreak did not yet merit being labelled a global health emergency. The second wave of the deadly virus has been attributed to community resistance to measures already taken to tackle the disease. On Thursday, around 1 000 students marched through the streets of Beni to launch a campaign to fight Eb...

Video Player Close KAMPALA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Laboratory results for a suspected deadly Ebola case in western Uganda has tested negative, a ministry of health spokesperson said here Sunday. Vivian Nakaliika, ministry of health spokesperson, told Xinhua by telephone that the samples taken from a 26-year-old male who died suddenly on Friday at Bwindi hospital in Kanungu district have tested negative of the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever. The deceased died after presenting Ebola-like symptoms of high fever, bleeding and vomiting blood, causing fears in the east African country. "The blood sample obtained from the 26-year-old male has tested negative of both Ebola Virus Disease and Marburg at Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe," said Nakaliika. Uganda is currently on an alert of the Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo that reported Ebola cases, according to the ministry of health. Ebola and Marburg virus last broke out in the east ...

A victim of Ebola under examination opens the mouth The Ebola epidemic, which devastated West Africa in 2014, cost the economy at about $ 53 billion. This result is from a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The authors of the report combined the direct economic burden and indirect social impact, thus calculating the complex costs of the worst epidemic of Ebola in the world. The incidence of bleeding fever lasted from 2013 to 2016 and killed at least 11,300 people, in what to be known as the most serious epidemic of Ebola in medical history. Most cases occurred in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The study's authors have estimated economic losses of about $ 14 billion ($ 317 billion) and claim that the losses stemming from mortality are much higher. Sums have been estimated by the number of people affected and an amount corresponding to the value of human life. Experts, however, have calculated an amount from a single study from West Africa that estimates...

GENEVA (Reuters) – An Ebola outbreak that ravaged Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia in 2014 cost economies an estimated $53 billion, according to a study in this month’s Journal of Infectious Diseases. The study aimed to combine the direct economic burden and the indirect social impact to generate a comprehensive cost of the outbreak, which was the worst in the world. The outbreak ran from 2013 to 2016 and killed at least 11,300 people, more than all other known Ebola outbreaks combined. The vast majority of cases were in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The report’s authors, Caroline Huber, Lyn Finelli and Warren Stevens, put the economic costs at $14 billion and said the human cost was even greater, based on the people affected and a dollar figure that reflects the value of each human life. The total is far higher than previous estimates. In October 2014, the World Bank said the Ebola epidemic could cost $32.6 billion by the end of 2015 in a worst case scenario, but by November ...

Study Estimates 2014 West African Ebola Outbreak Cost At $53B Oct 25, 2018 Reuters : West Africa’s Ebola outbreak cost $53 billion — study “An Ebola outbreak that ravaged Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia in 2014 cost economies an estimated $53 billion, according to a study in this month’s Journal of Infectious Diseases. The study aimed to combine the direct economic burden and the indirect social impact to generate a comprehensive cost of the outbreak, which was the worst in the world. … The total is far higher than previous estimates…” (Miles, 10/24). https://ift.tt/2z867K6

KINSHASA, DRC —  The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has led to 164 deaths, health authorities said. In mid-October, Congolese authorities said they were facing a "second wave" of the outbreak centered on Beni, a town in North Kivu near the border with Uganda. The epicenter had earlier been focused on Mangina, a town about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Beni. In total, 257 cases had been recorded in the region, of which 222 were confirmed and 35 were probable, since the start of the outbreak at the beginning of August, the Congolese Health Ministry said in a bulletin dated Friday. On Oct. 17, the World Health Organization said the death toll was 139, although it said the outbreak did not yet merit being labeled a global health emergency. The second wave of the deadly virus has been attributed to community resistance to measures already taken to tackle the disease. On Thursday, about 1,000 students marched through the streets of Beni to launch...

Prevention of Ebola Virus Diseases in South Sudan - Ebola Virus disease outbreak has been declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo. - South Sudan is taking serious measures to prevent entry of this disease into the country. What is Ebola Virus Disease? - Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a severe illness caused by Ebola virus and often fatal in humans and animals (monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzee). How is Ebola Spread? - Ebola spreads through direct contact with body fluids such as blood, saliva, vomitus, urine, stool, semen and sweat of infected people or animals, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids. Who is at risk of Ebola? - Everyone is at a risk but most especially those who have recently travelled to DRC and been in contact with sick people; health workers and hunters. What are the signs and symptoms of Ebola? - Ebola causes sudden onset of high fever, extreme tiredness, headache, body pain, loss of appetite. Some patie...

In the latest Ebola developments, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today reported six more cases in Beni, the outbreak's current epicenter, and the World Health Organization's (WHO's) vaccine advisory group said there's still not enough evidence to recommend Ebola vaccination for pregnant women. Officials probe 47 suspected cases The 6 new illnesses in Beni, part of a steady stream of cases from the region, bring the outbreak total to 257 cases, which includes 222 confirmed and 35 probable infections. Two more deaths were reported, one from Beni and the other from Butembo, the city that continues to report cases and deaths. So far 164 people have died in the DRC's latest outbreak, which is affecting North Kivu and Ituri provinces in the northeast part of the country. Another 47 suspected Ebola cases are under investigation. The number of people reached with the ring vaccination campaign continues to increase, with 22,811 immunized so far, about half ...