International Events

Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Outbreak at a Glance:

On April 22nd, 2022, the health authorities of the African Nations declared an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) after a case was confirmed for a 31-year-old citizen of Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He began experiencing symptoms on April 5th, 2022.
He was admitted to the intensive care unit on April 21st, 2022, and passed away one day later.
On April 25th, the second case was recorded for a 25-year-old woman from the same family, who passed away on the same day, but she began experiencing symptoms on April 13th.
Hundreds of potential contacts are being followed up, and no new cases have been reported yet.
There are no specific guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) related to this outbreak yet.

Symptoms:

Early symptoms can include: fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and sore throat.
This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function, in addition to internal and external bleeding.
The case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90%.

Epidemiology:

The incubator of the virus is some wild animals, most prominently: fruit bats, porcupines, and monkeys.
It is transmitted from an infected animal to a person.
It is transmitted between people directly through body secretions, or indirectly through the use of contaminated personal items.
in 1976, the first EVD outbreak occurred in Central African Republic.
Since 1976, 16 epidemic outbreaks have been recorded in some African countries.

Diagnosis:

Cases are diagnosed and confirmed based on laboratory tests, most prominently: antibody test and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

Treatment:

Symptom control in palliative therapy, mainly rehydration.
Two monoclonal antibodies (Inmazeb and Ebanga) were approved for the treatment of EVD by the US Food and Drug Administration in late 2020.

Prevention and Control:

Raising awareness of risk factors for Ebola infection and protective measures.
The Ervebo vaccine, which was approved in 2022, is given to those individuals aged 18 years and older.
The Zabdeno vaccine, which was approved in 2020, is administered in two doses, 8 months apart, for those aged one year and older.