Fears Ebola virus will spread from DRC Congo into other African nations
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Dec. 13, 2018
Hundreds of health workers in South Sudan will be given Ebola vaccinations amid fears the virus will spread from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Official statistics show the death toll in the African nation – battling the second biggest Ebola outbreak in history – has reached 285.
No cases have been confirmed in neighbouring South Sudan yet, but the country is on ‘high alert’, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
More than 2,000 healthcare and frontline workers in the country will be offered a vaccine to try and stop the spread.
Teams of vaccinators are ready to conduct the vaccinations, starting in the capital, Juba, on December 19.
The UN Refugee Agency warns there is an influx of Congolese refugees seeking shelter in South Sudan because of conflict in the DRC.
A ‘ring vaccination’ strategy will be used, where every contact of an Ebola case, including health workers and family members, is traced and vaccinated.
Those vaccinated are followed up and monitored closely for 21 days.
The experimental vaccine that will be used, known as rVSV-ZEBOV, targets the Ebola virus-Zaire strain, the one ravaging the DRC now.
The vaccine, which the WHO said is highly effective, first went on trial during the Ebola pandemic four years ago, which killed more than 11,300 people.
Uganda and Rwanda, which also border the DRC, are also considered to be at ‘very high risk’ of the deadly viral disease.
Ebola can be transmitted between humans through blood, secretions and other bodily fluids of people – and surfaces – that have been infected.
The African country’s Ebola outbreak, which began in August, is showing no signs of slowing down. Almost 500 people are feared to have been struck down.
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