Gabon
Gabon increases Ebola surveillance

afrol News, 9 October - Gabon is the country worst hit by repeated Ebola epidemics. The five outbreaks over the last eight years all took the government by surprise. Better surveillance of the haemorrhagic fever in Gabon is to improve the situation.

An additional US$ 500 million are to be spent on an emergency humanitarian assistance programme for the surveillance and epidemiological control of the Ebola type haemorrhagic fever in Gabon, it was informed today. The effort is expected to improve medical care of Ebola patients.

Since 1972, outbreaks of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever have been identified mostly in the Central African sub-region, namely in the Congo Kinshasa, Gabon and Congo Brazzaville. Most outbreaks have been registered in Gabon's remote Ogooué–Ivindo Province, in the country's north-east at the Congolese border.

The latest outbreaks of the epidemic in Gabon occurred respectively in Minkouka in 1994, 1996 in Mayibou II and Makokou in the Ogooué-Ivindo Province, in 1996 and 1997 in the districts of Ovan and Booue in the Province of Ogooué-Ivindo and Koumemeyong. The 1996/97 outbreak killed 45 persons. 

Between October 2001 and May 2002, Gabon experienced its fifth epidemic of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever, which also remained confined to two departments (Zadiée and Ivindo) of the Ogooué–Ivindo Province. Over 50 persons fell victim to the latest outbreak of the virus, which had a mortality rate of almost 90 percent.

The remoteness of the Ogooué-Ivindo province has strongly contributed to the frequent outbreaks and the slow extermination of Ebola epidemics. The infrastructure web of health care, communication and transportation is poorly developed. Mobile local residents often spread the virus over large areas before the word is out.

The Gabonese government therefore is embarking on projects to enhance "the surveillance and epidemiological control of the Ebola fever, care of patients and prevention from the disease by way of social mobilisation," it was learnt today. The general goal of this health infrastructure investment is to gain a better control of the Ebola type viral haemorrhagic fever. 

The government plans to procure means for data collection - i.e. forms for active surveillance, notification and for calculating the epidemic level - in addition to train staff to use them and procure communication equipment. One further plans to recruit epidemiologist specialised in health surveillance and information.

To the improve preparedness, Gabon also is to purchase pharmaceutical products and consumables, special equipment and supplies such as protection kits for health staff, protection kits for beds, equipment for incineration and/or destruction of biohazards. This equipment usually has to be airlifted to the region by humanitarian organisations whenever there is an epidemic outbreak.

The government's Ebola emergency humanitarian assistance programme today got an additional funding from the African Development Bank (ADB), which approved a grant of US$ 500,000. According to an ADB statement, the Bank's assistance would "enable the government and Red Cross to pursue social mobilisation."

Sources: Based on ADB and afrol archives 

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