5-30 | Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) 1yesterday (28 May) started vaccinating Ebola frontline workers in Bikoro, Equateur Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the organisation has been working with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) over the past few weeks. This trial vaccination will also be offered to contacts of patients. The Ebola vaccine (rVSVDG-ZEBOV-GP) is being used as part of the overall strategy to control the Ebola outbreak.
5-17 | The Ebola outbreak continues in the Equateur province, with one new laboratory-confirmed case from the city of Mbandaka, which has a population of more than a million and is a busy port city located on the Congo River. This new case is linked with the epicentre of the epidemic, the east of Lake Tumba. Since the beginning of the epidemic, 44 overall people who have presented symptoms of haemorrhagic fever, 3 confirmed as Ebola, and 23 deaths have been notified by the national health authorities in the region.
4-6 | Recent violence in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has displaced over 300,000 people from their homes, and awakened memories of the conflict that affected the region in the early 2000s. Houses have been burnt, around 200 people have been killed and scores of others wounded. The displaced are living in informal sites, with host families or are sheltering in churches and schools.
12-4 | During the early morning of 4th December, several armed men broke into Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) compound in Mweso, in Masisi territory, North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. They subjected the staff to violence and threats of kidnapping, before robbing the compound of money and equipment. “MSF strongly condemns this new attack and the violence that accompanied it.
5-13 | One case of Ebola has been confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the Likati health zone of Bas Uele Province in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A total of nine cases, including three deaths are so far being investigated.