Gabon  & Congo Brazzaville
Ebola toll still rising in Gabon and Congo

afrol News, 18 March - Due to the isolated location of the Ebola outbreak area in Gabon and Congo Brazzaville, medical teams are still not in control of the prolonged outbreak. The newest reports show that there now are 60 confirmed cases in Gabon and 31 confirmed cases in Congo Brazzaville.

As of 12 March, the Gabonese Ministry of Health has reported 60 confirmed cases in Gabon to the World Health Organisation (WHO). This number included 50 deaths. The most recent cases were confined to the Ogooue-Invindo province, northern Gabon, with the last two confirmed deaths occurring in Makokou and Mekambo on 23 February and 10 March respectively, the ministry reported. A further 62 contacts were being followed up.

Meanwhile, the Congolese Ministry of Health has reported 31 confirmed cases in the neighbour country. These included 18 deaths, which had been reported in villages in the Congolese Cuvette region, close to the border with Gabon's Ogooue-Invindo Province. Currently 58 contacts were being followed in the Republic of the Congo, WHO reported.

Reports were received of deaths between mid-January and 8 March in three remote villages approximately 65 kilometres north-west of Kelle in western Congo Brazzaville. The majority of the cases had occurred in Ambomi, according to the Congolese Ministry of Health. 

WHO reports from Congo that a 50 kilometre road just had been re-opened, and a team from Médecins sans Frontières (MSF-Holland), presently in Kelle, was to travel to the villages as soon as possible. They were being joined by staff from WHO, the Congolese Ministry of Health and other medical teams. "They will be collecting samples and quickly referring them for laboratory analysis and are prepared to implement barrier nursing practices, surveillance and health education activities, if indicated," WHO reports. WHO was providing additional protective equipment. 

On 18 February 2002, the Gabonese Ministry of Health had reported 55 confirmed cases, including 46 deaths. In one month, there have thus been five additional detected Ebola cases in the country's remote province. In Congo Brazzaville, 21 confirmed cases were reported on 15 February, increasing to 31 in the current update.

In January, the Ebola outbreak showed signs of burning out, typical after the intervention of medical teams during an occurrence the so-called Zaire strain of the virus - the most lethal with a mortality rate of 70-90%. Leaving victims with notable signs of the disease rapidly after infection, an outbreak of the Zaire strain is usually brought rapidly under control.

As the rate of new infections is very low, the prompt arrival of national and international health teams to the remote Gabonese and Congolese provinces certainly has saved many lives. The extreme remoteness and lack of infrastructure in these provinces however seem to impede the total burning out of the outbreak.

There is no specific treatment or vaccine for the disease, which is often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, limited kidney and liver functions, and both internal and external bleeding. 

The last Ebola outbreak, last year in Uganda (South Sudan strain), however showed that quick respond from health authorities and intensive treatment significantly reduced the fatality rate of the disease. 224 persons were killed in the Ugandan outbreak, which occurred in an area that even more difficult to isolate and thus managed to spread from its initial cluster.

The infamous Ogooue-Invindo province in Gabon also fell victim to an outbreak of the Zaire strain five years ago, killing 45 people. This years' outbreak however seems the largest in scale registered in this area.

Sources: Based on WHO and afrol archives 

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