Jul 18, 2019 12:25:00

Declaring the state of the Congolese epidemic that has killed more than 1,600 Ebola hemorrhagic fevers, there is concern for the spread of international transmission

by WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an 'internationally concerned public health emergency' (PHEIC) about the epidemic of

Ebola in central Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The epidemic began in August 2018, and has killed more than 1600 people in the year to July 2019.

Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/17-07-2019-ebola-outbreak-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-declared-a-public-health-emergency- of-international-concern

Statement of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee for Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 17 July 2019
(PDF file)

https://www.who.int/ihr/procedures/statement-emergency-committee-ebola-drc-july-2019.pdf

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a fever caused by Ebola virus. As the name 'hemorrhagic fever' is given, one of the symptoms is 'bleeding', but it does not necessarily mean that it bleeds, and symptoms such as fever and pain (such as headache and muscle pain) also occur. The characteristic is that the mortality rate is high, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the fatality rate of the 'Sudan type' is about 50%, and that of the 'Zaire type' is about 90%.

In recent years, a case that became a major outbreak in West Africa in 2014 is famous, and in this case, WHO declared “Physical Health Concerns of International Concern” (PHEIC) on August 8, 2014. It was released on March 9, 2016, one and a half years later.

It becomes like this when the infection spread of Ebola hemorrhagic fever more than 50% of death rate is summarized in the figure-GIGAZINE

by NIAID

In this case, WHO declared Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo on August 1, 2018. By July 15, 2019, there were 2512 infections and 1676 died.

One of the reasons why the PHEIC declaration was issued is that infected people were found in the city of Rwanda's border city Sesame . On July 14, 2019, this infected man died on July 15, 20, the next day on a bus with his family from the city of Tenbo where Ebola had become prevalent. Authorities immediately identified 75 male family members and contacts who were in contact and were vaccinated, and were under surveillance, but more than 15,000 people crossed the border from Sesame to Rwanda a day. And there is concern about further spread of infection.