Ebola Virus Disease

By Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro | AP March 31 at 8:59 AM BENI, Congo — Voters who were not given the chance to take part in Congo’s presidential election because of the Ebola epidemic and violence cast legislative ballots Sunday amid continuing resentment. Residents in eastern Congo’s cities of Beni and Butembo were not included in the January presidential vote. At the time government officials said the decision was made because of Ebola, although the current outbreak remains a threat, with the number of cases still increasing this past week. Voters had to wash their hands before entering polling stations Sunday in an effort to prevent disease transmission. Ebola, a highly deadly virus, is transmitted through contact with the bodily fluids of sick people. Malikidogo Kathembo, a 48-year-old farmer, cast his ballot in Beni for national and regional legislatures though he remains upset about what happened in January. Kathembo remains skeptical about the reason given for preventing ...

One in four people interviewed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC ) last year believed Ebola wasn't real, according to a new study, underscoring the enormous challenges healthcare workers are now facing. Health workers said public mistrust is now the biggest obstacle to stopping the epidemic, with many refusing vaccines, resisting treatment and concealing symptoms, as the world's second-biggest Ebola outbreak spreads. This mistrust resulted in people being 15 times less likely to seek medical treatment at an Ebola health centre, according to the study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The study, released on Wednesday, was based on interviews conducted last September, about a month after the outbreak began. It comes as the number of probable and confirmed cases exceeds 1,000. At least 639 people have died from Ebola in eastern DRC since August in what is now the second-deadliest outbreak in history, according to the World Health Organizat...

Health experts are concerned about Ebola Virus Disease spreading in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Eastern Congo is currently facing the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. More than 600 people have already died from the disease since last August. Hundreds more are infected. But a recent study found that one out of four people questioned in eastern Congo last year do not believe the Ebola virus is real. Nearly half said they thought some people were making up the Ebola outbreak in order to gain money or power. Their beliefs are strengthened by the economic and political insecurity in the area. The study was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. It was based on interviews done last September, about a month after the outbreak was first reported. Beliefs can help spread – or stop – the deadly virus Researchers say the study showed how people’s misguided ideas about Ebola were making it harder to fight the virus. Ebola is spread through bod...

One in four people interviewed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC ) last year believed Ebola wasn't real, according to a new study, underscoring the enormous challenges healthcare workers are now facing. Health workers said public mistrust is now the biggest obstacle to stopping the epidemic, with many refusing vaccines, resisting treatment and concealing symptoms, as the world's second-biggest Ebola outbreak spreads. This mistrust resulted in people being 15 times less likely to seek medical treatment at an Ebola health centre, according to the study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The study, released on Wednesday, was based on interviews conducted last September, about a month after the outbreak began. It comes as the number of probable and confirmed cases exceeds 1,000. At least 639 people have died from Ebola in eastern DRC since August in what is now the second-deadliest outbreak in history, according to the World Health Organizat...

One in four people interviewed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC ) last year believed Ebola wasn't real, according to a new study, underscoring the enormous challenges healthcare workers are now facing. Health workers said public mistrust is now the biggest obstacle to stopping the epidemic, with many refusing vaccines, resisting treatment and concealing symptoms, as the world's second-biggest Ebola outbreak spreads. This mistrust resulted in people being 15 times less likely to seek medical treatment at an Ebola health centre, according to the study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The study, released on Wednesday, was based on interviews conducted last September, about a month after the outbreak began. It comes as the number of probable and confirmed cases exceeds 1,000. At least 639 people have died from Ebola in eastern DRC since August in what is now the second-deadliest outbreak in history, according to the World Health Organizat...

The Ebola total in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) grew by 14 today, amid a fragile security situation in an outbreak region that is still experiencing sporadic violence and pockets of mistrust, according to the latest updates. In a new research development, a survey of residents of Beni and Butembo that was conducted 1 month after the outbreak was declared found a link between mistrust of institutions and misinformation and fewer efforts to protect against the disease, including accepting vaccination. In addition, a quarter of respondents questioned whether the disease even exists. New Katwa cases include health workers In its latest update today, the DRC's health ministry said 6 of the newly confirmed cases are in Katwa and four in Vuhovi. Of the new cases in Katwa, two involve health workers who cared for patients in a facility in the Muchanga health area where several confirmed patients have died since Mar 10. In its report yesterday, the ministry said possible...

The ongoing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces saw a rise in the number of new cases this past week. At this time, response teams are facing daily challenges in ensuring timely and thorough identification and investigation of all cases amidst a backdrop of sporadic violence from armed groups and pockets of mistrust in some affected communities. Despite this, progress is being made in areas such as Mandima, Masereka and Vuhovi, where response teams are gradually able to access once again and acceptance by the community of proven interventions to break the chains of transmission is observed. During the last 21 days (6 – 26 March), a total of 125 new cases were reported from 51 health areas within 12 of the 21 health zones affected to date; 38% of the 133 health areas affected to date (Figure 2). The majority of these cases were from remaining hotspot areas of Katwa (36), Butembo (14), and three emerging clusters in Mandima (19), Masereka (18) and Vu...

Treatment with favipiravir, an experimental antiviral, improved the survival time of patients with Ebola virus disease during the West African epidemic, study findings showed. Favipiravir (Toyama) was one of several investigational therapies tested during the epidemic , which infected more than 28,000 people and killed over 11,300, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. It is currently being evaluated again in a pioneering multidrug trial during the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In a retrospective study, Romy Kerber, PhD, a scientist in the department of virology at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, and colleagues assessed the outcomes of 163 patients diagnosed with Ebola virus disease in 2015 in Guinea, including 73 who were treated with favipiravir. Results showed that the case fatality rate in favipiravir-treated patients was lower than that in untreated patients — 42.5% and 57.8%, respectively. Kerber and colleagues sa...

Zhang and Jagota have teamed up to try to better understand the biomechanics of Ebola virus-host cell adhesion. The project pairs Jagota’s expertise in computational molecular adhesion mechanics with Zhang’s focus in mechanosensing, or how cells sense and respond to mechanical stimuli. The duo, working with colleagues Sven Moller-Tank and Wendy Maury from the University of Iowa, have developed a simple model that characterizes the biomechanics of Ebola virus-host cell adhesion―findings that could provide new and helpful information on the road to developing an effective Ebola treatment. They have published their findings in Scientific Reports in an article titled: “ Biomechanical characterization of TIM protein–mediated Ebola virus– host cell adhesion .”  “We utilized single-molecule force spectroscopy to quantify the specific interaction forces between the TIM proteins of a host cell and Ebola-virus-like particles,” says Zhang. In addition to illuminating the biomechanical pa...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Institutional trust and misinformation in the response to the 2018–19 Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, DR Congo: a population-based survey    The Lancet Study: Many in Ebola outbreak don’t believe virus is real    Washington Post The world must wake up to the threat of latest Ebola outbreak    Financial Times Community mistrust worsening DR Congo Ebola outbreak: study    Aljazeera.com View full coverage on Google News https://ift.tt/2WseIl0

One out of four people interviewed in eastern Congo last year believed Ebola wasn't real, according to a new study released Wednesday, underscoring the enormous challenges health care workers are now facing. The survey found that a deep mistrust of the Ebola response resulted in those people being 15 times less likely to seek medical treatment at an Ebola health center, according to the study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The study was based on interviews conducted last September, about a month after the outbreak began. It comes as the number of probable and confirmed cases has exceeded 1 000. At least 639 people have died from Ebola since August in what is now the second deadliest outbreak in history, according to the World Health Organisation. The outbreak's response has been hampered by a series of deadly attacks on Ebola health centers since the study was completed. As a result, Doctors Without Borders has stopped staffing two health centers at the...

Peter Graaff is the new World Health Organization (WHO) special representative for the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, appointed Graaff, who previously served as the WHO's director of Ebola emergency response in Liberia and West Africa. Graaff, a Dutch national, will be based in Kinshasa and will coordinate the outbreak response with both the WHO and the DRC government. During a radio address made from Kinshasa today, Graaff said, "We are talking about 'cases' and 'containment' to use scientific terms, but behind every case there is a person, a family and a community that suffers." Graaff's appointment comes just days after the DRC hit the 1,000-case mark amid a spike of virus activity. 'Daily challenges' "Currently, response teams are facing daily challenges in ensuring timely and thorough identification and investigation of all cases amidst ...

By Krista Larson | AP March 28 at 5:26 AM DAKAR, Senegal — One out of four people interviewed in eastern Congo last year believed Ebola wasn’t real, according to a new study, underscoring the enormous challenges health care workers are facing in what has become the second-deadliest outbreak in history. The survey released late Wednesday found that a deep mistrust of the Ebola response resulted in those people being 15 times less likely to seek medical treatment at an Ebola health center, according to the study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The study was based on interviews conducted last September, about a month after the outbreak began. It comes as the number of probable and confirmed cases has exceeded 1,000. At least 639 people have died from Ebola since August, according to the World Health Organization. This is the first time the region has experienced an Ebola outbreak. The outbreak’s response has been hampered by a series of deadly attacks on...

By Krista Larson | AP March 28 at 5:26 AM DAKAR, Senegal — One out of four people interviewed in eastern Congo last year believed Ebola wasn’t real, according to a new study, underscoring the enormous challenges health care workers are facing in what has become the second-deadliest outbreak in history. The survey released late Wednesday found that a deep mistrust of the Ebola response resulted in those people being 15 times less likely to seek medical treatment at an Ebola health center, according to the study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The study was based on interviews conducted last September, about a month after the outbreak began. It comes as the number of probable and confirmed cases has exceeded 1,000. At least 639 people have died from Ebola since August, according to the World Health Organization. This is the first time the region has experienced an Ebola outbreak. The outbreak’s response has been hampered by a series of deadly attacks on...

Peter Graaff is the new World Health Organization (WHO) special representative for the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, appointed Graaff, who previously served as the WHO's director of Ebola emergency response in Liberia and West Africa. Graaff, a Dutch national, will be based in Kinshasa and will coordinate the outbreak response with both the WHO and the DRC government. During a radio address made from Kinshasa today, Graaff said, "We are talking about 'cases' and 'containment' to use scientific terms, but behind every case there is a person, a family and a community that suffers." Graaff's appointment comes just days after the DRC hit the 1,000-case mark amid a spike of virus activity. 'Daily challenges' "Currently, response teams are facing daily challenges in ensuring timely and thorough identification and investigation of all cases amidst ...

DAKAR, Senegal — One out of four people interviewed in eastern Congo last year believed Ebola wasn't real, according to a new study, underscoring the enormous challenges health care workers are facing in what has become the second-deadliest outbreak in history. The survey released late Wednesday found that a deep mistrust of the Ebola response resulted in those people being 15 times less likely to seek medical treatment at an Ebola health center, according to the study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The study was based on interviews conducted last September, about a month after the outbreak began. It comes as the number of probable and confirmed cases has exceeded 1,000. At least 639 people have died from Ebola since August, according to the World Health Organization. This is the first time the region has experienced an Ebola outbreak. The outbreak's response has been hampered by a series of deadly attacks on Ebola health centers since the study was c...

More than 1,000 people have been infected with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo since August 2018, according to the World Health Organization. The hemorrhagic fever, which is concentrated in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, has killed 629 people as of Sunday. That makes it the second worst Ebola outbreak on record, after the one that began in West Africa in 2014 , which infected more than 26,000 and killed an estimated 11,300 people over the course of two years. Here’s what you need to know: How does Ebola work? Ebola is actually a group of viruses that appear to be spread by bats to humans and other primates such as apes and chimpanzees. It is transmitted through bodily fluids, including blood, poop, vomit, urine, breast milk, and semen. It can enter a person’s body through cuts in the skin, or through mucous membranes—tissues that line the eyes, nose, mouth, urethra, and vagina. At first, Ebola may seem like the common flu. Symptoms include exhaustion, aches ...

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 northeast of the country. With the number of cases passing 1,000, it is now by far the country's largest-ever Ebola outbreak. It is also the second-biggest Ebola epidemic ever recorded, behind the West Africa outbreak of 2014-2016. Retrospective investigations point to a possible start of the outbreak back in May 2018 – around the same time as the Equateur outbreak earlier in the year. There is no connection or link between the two outbreaks. 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. A person died at home after presenting symptoms of haemorrhagic fever. Family m...