A coordinator with U-Reporters, an UNICEF program to engage and inform local communities, wears a protective gown May 29 as he takes part in a campaign to raise awareness about Ebola in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The number of Ebola cases has climbed past 1,000, health officials said. Photo by Marie Jeanne Munyerenkana/ EPA
The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has climbed to 1,003, with 254 deaths, officials said.
The latest report from Congo health officials, released Sunday, said that the response to the outbreak, concentrated in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, had an increase in the number of recoveries from the disease but a decline in the contact follow-up rate. One hundred people have recovered since the World Health Organization declared an outbreak in mid-May, and at least 365 people are in the hospital or in isolation.
“Efforts regarding community outreach, diagnosis and care continue to be intensified to curb the spread of the epidemic,” health officials said in a social media post.
Tracing of those who’ve been in contact with patients has been an issue, with a 58% contact follow-up rate, Congo health officials said. Information released by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations said 6,386 contacts were under follow-up.
Contact tracing, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is finding everyone who’s come into direct contact with an Ebola patient and watching them for signs of illness for 21 days after that contact. If they develop symptoms, they in turn are isolated, tested and provided care — and their contacts are also found and watched for 21 days.
“Contract tracing finds new cases quickly so they can be isolated to stop further spread,” the CDC said.
Ebola is caused by an infection with an orthoebolavirus and can have a mortality rate of 80% to 90%. It does not spread through the air but through direct contact with body fluids from someone who is sick with or who has died from Ebola or through contaminated objects, the CDC said.
