Disease

Ebola – Democratic Republic of the Congo - Update

On 1 August 2018, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a new outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the town of Mangina, Mabalako Health Zone, North Kivu Province. Confirmed cases have since between reported from Beni and Mandima health zones, Ituri Province; however, all confirmed exposures and transmission events to date have been linked back to the outbreak epi-centre, Mangina. North Kivu and Ituri are among the most populated provinces in the country, share borders with Uganda and Rwanda, and experience conflict and insecurity, with over one million internally displaced people and migration of refugees to neighbouring countries.

As of 15 August 2018, 78 EVD cases (51 confirmed and 27 probable), including 44 deaths, have been reported.1 Since 9 August, 34 new confirmed cases have been reported: seven from Ituri Province (Mandima Health Zone) and 27 from North Kivu Province (one in Beni and 26 in Mabalako health zones). The 78 confirmed or probable cases reside in five health zones in North Kivu and one health zone in Ituri. The majority of cases (39 confirmed and 21 probable) have been reported from Mangina in Mabalako Health Zone. As of 15 August, 24 suspected cases are currently pending laboratory testing to confirm or exclude EVD.

Eight new confirmed cases among health care workers have been reported, bringing the total number of infected health care workers to 10 (nine confirmed and one probable deceased case).

Cholera - West Africa’s Lake Chad Basin

More than 20,000 cholera cases have been confirmed in the Lake Chad Basin states of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon since January.

In its latest epidemiological analysis of the regional cholera outbreak, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said 255 deaths have been reported since January. “This is 8 times more than the average cholera case-load in the past four years. Nigeria is the most affected, with 18,000 cases. The outbreak has spread into neighboring Cameroon and Niger.