Eleven Ebola deaths in central region

(IRIN) – Eleven people have died of Ebola in the Kaluemba area of Kasai Occidental Province in central Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the country’s health minister. Suspected cases have also been found in nearby villages.

Health Minister August Mopipi told the media on 29 December that laboratory tests had confirmed that the outbreak, first reported in late November in Kaluemba village, is indeed Ebola.

“Samples were taken and sent to the National Institute of Biomedical Research in Kinshasa and to Franceville laboratory in Gabon for confirmation. The Franceville results showed the presence of the Ebola virus,” Mopipi said.

“Pockets, or suspected cases, of Ebola have been recorded with increasing frequency in villages within the Kaluemba health area where the epidemic has been confirmed,” said Olivier Chenebon, head of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF-Belgium) mission.

Chenebon said the villagers had revealed that cases of fever accompanied by the vomiting of blood, and diarrhoea – symptoms suggesting Ebola – were evident in villages in the area.

Chenebon also confirmed that two of the samples sent to laboratories in South Africa and Gabon turned out to be positive.Both Mopipi and Chenebon said the 11 dead were among 35 registered cases.The World Health Organization (WHO) said in its daily report on the situation that a nurse was among the 35 infected.

“The work of our teams on the ground is important: They should be closely monitoring the 102 people who have been in contact with the dead or the sick. It is possible they might develop the disease and infect others,” Chenebon said.

Mopipi visited the area, taking with him a supply of medicines and other items, but he has nevertheless launched an appeal for mobilisation.The Ebola epidemic has been reappearing in Mweka District for nearly a year.

Last year, 187 people out of the 264 infected in and around Kampungu village, Kasai Occidental Province, died.

According to Chenebon, the teams touring these villages to raise awareness of the disease are telling people not to touch dead animals, not to eat bats or monkeys, and to avoid all contact with human fluids.