First Doses Arrive in Kasai Province as Health Workers Prioritize Containment. The World Health Organization (WHO) has begun a vaccination campaign in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to contain a new outbreak of the Ebola virus, which has already claimed at least 16 lives. The campaign started with the delivery of 400 doses of the Erebor Ebola Vaccination to Bulape, a health zone in Kasai province bordering Angola.
The initial doses are part of a 2,000-dose national stockpile. Health officials confirmed that additional vaccine shipments will arrive in the coming days. The strategy targets frontline workers, patients, and individuals at the highest risk of exposure.
Ring Vaccination Strategy and International Support
WHO officials emphasized that the vaccination campaign is using the “ring” strategy, which vaccinates people most likely to have been in contact with infected patients. This method has proven effective in past Ebola outbreaks by creating a buffer of immunity around confirmed cases.
Professor Mohamed Yakub Janabi, WHO’s regional director for Africa, stated that health authorities and international partners are “working round the clock” to stop the spread of the virus. The International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision has also approved the shipment of an additional 45,000 doses to support containment efforts.
So far, 48 WHO experts specializing in disease surveillance, clinical care, and logistics have been deployed to the DRC to strengthen response capacity. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 63 suspected cases of Ebola have been identified, with four health workers among the confirmed fatalities.
Recent History of Ebola Vaccination in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The DRC’s Ministry of Health declared the country’s 16th recorded Ebola outbreak on September 4, following reports of suspected cases earlier in the month. The Ebola virus, first identified in the DRC in 1976, remains one of the most lethal infectious diseases, with a fatality rate that can reach 90 percent in some cases.
Health authorities have assessed the risk of the current outbreak as high for the nation, moderate for the region, and low for the global community. The last outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo occurred in August 2022 in North Kivu province, where one case was reported and later resulted in death. That outbreak was declared over within six weeks. The Bulape health zone, however, has not experienced an Ebola outbreak since 2007.
The latest effort underscores the urgency of rapid vaccination and international coordination to prevent a wider public health crisis in central Africa.
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