More regions to be vaccinated, experimental drugs to be tried in Congo Ebola outbreak
By Meera Senthilingam
CNN.com
Tue May 29, 2018
(CNN)More than 400 people have been vaccinated and more than 800 contacts traced in the city of Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Use of the experimental vaccine, known as rVSV-ZEBOV, will now spread to the more rural regions of Iboko and Bikoro where the majority of cases have occurred.
Vaccination began in the urban setting of Mbandaka to “prevent an urban outbreak” as well as further spread along the nearby Congo river, to reduce “risk through the interior of DRC and surrounding countries,” Dr. Peter Salama, the deputy director-general of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program said Tuesday.
He confirmed the outbreak spread to Mbandaka after two brothers visited Bikoro to attend a funeral and traveled back to the city.
“Mbandaka is relatively safeguarded at the moment,” he said, adding that officials “haven’t seen an explosive increase in cases” and the teams have reason to “cautiously optimistic.”
There have been 54 cases of Ebola reported in Congo, including 25 deaths. Thirty-five of those case have been confirmed with laboratory tests.
Salama said 47 of the cases were in the more rural regions of Bikoro and Iboko where control efforts will now be focused. “That’s where the next phase of vaccination must go.”
The vaccine is proving to be a very acceptable intervention to the community in Mbandaka, Salama said. “There are no reports of refusal of the vaccination.”
“Over 90% of eligible people are getting vaccinated,” said Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO assistant director-general for Emergency Preparedness and Response, highlighting that this is a strong coverage rate for any vaccine.
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