After the discovery of a case on Friday, October 8 in the province of North Kivu (Democratic Republic of the Congo), the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a vaccination campaign against the Ebola virus on Wednesday, October 13.
Originally, the death of a two-year-old boy was caused by the virus on Wednesday, October 6 at a local health facility. He had been infected by three members of his family, who finally died last September, after contracting symptoms similar to Ebola.
“The Democratic Republic of the Congo is spearheading efforts to end this latest Ebola outbreak, building on the expertise gained in responding to previous outbreaks,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, Director from the WHO Regional Office for Africa.
1,200 doses of vaccine delivered
To stop the spread of the virus, the authorities on site have identified people at high risk, namely contacts of the dead child and first responders, so that they receive the first doses of the vaccine as a priority.
The #RDC today began the vaccination campaign against #Ebola To #Blessed, where a case was confirmed on October 08, 2021. People at risk, including contacts of the confirmed case will be vaccinated to stem the spread of the virushttps://t.co/QhtwG3VY1H pic.twitter.com/9R7qPVHDSi
– WHO DRC (@OMSRDCONGO) October 13, 2021
Almost 1,000 doses of the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine against the Ebola virus have been delivered to Goma and 200 others have left for Beni. To date, more than 170 contacts have been identified, and their health status is being carefully monitored.
To support this health movement, WHO has released $ 200,000 through its emergency reserve fund. For its part, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has more than 12,000 doses of vaccine, to be deployed if necessary.