Mysterious epidemic in Congo, Ministry of Health outlines response measures

The General Department of Preventive Medicine said it will coordinate with international organizations to assess the risk of disease outbreaks in Congo to propose appropriate responses.

Regarding the mysterious epidemic in Congo that has caused 406 cases, including 31 deaths, Mr. Hoang Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) said that the Ministry of Health is closely monitoring the epidemic's developments.

According to Mr. Hoang Minh Duc, the Department of Preventive Medicine is coordinating with the World Health Organization (WHO) and IHR focal points of countries to update and share information about the epidemic.

The epidemic in Congo has killed 31 people. (Photo: Moses Sawasawa/AP).

In case of new developments, the Department of Preventive Medicine will coordinate with WHO, US CDC and relevant units to assess risks and propose appropriate responses, including strengthening medical quarantine work.

According to the Department of Preventive Medicine, WHO assessed the risk level for affected communities in the outbreak area as high based on information on limitations in the provision and access to health services; low vaccination rates; difficult living conditions, food, and transportation in the area; and at the same time recorded initial information on clusters of cases in family clusters, indicating the possibility of spreading within households.

However, at the national level in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the risk is considered medium as the current outbreak is localized in the region, although there is still the potential for spread to neighboring areas.

At the regional and global levels, WHO assesses the risk as low, only noting surveillance at the border with the neighboring country near the outbreak area, Angola.

Several countries in the region also assessed the risk of disease introduction from the Democratic Republic of Congo as low, due to very low numbers of visitors from the region and no direct flights from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Previously, WHO said that in Panzi area, Kwango province, Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 406 cases of an unknown disease, including 31 deaths.

Symptoms include fever, headache, cough, runny nose and muscle pain. Cases are predominantly in children (53% of cases and 54.8% of deaths were under 5 years old) and all severe cases were severely malnourished.

The area where the outbreak is occurring is a rural area, in a remote province far from the capital Kinshasa (48 hours by road). The area has experienced food shortages in recent months; poor health conditions, low vaccination rates, and limited access to diagnostics and case management.

Malaria is common in the area and is being identified as a possible cause of the cases, but malaria control measures are very limited.