Disaster Response Congo, Democratic Republic of the Project #33479

Emergency Response to the Ebola Outbreak in DRC

by International Medical Corps

Project Report | Jul 8, 2021
Final Report on Ebola Outbreak in the DRC

By Phalaen Chang | Project Assistant

We celebrate all cured Ebola patients (2019)

This will be our final update as International Medical Corps’ emergency response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC draws to a close.

To continue supporting International Medical Corps, please visit our “Emergency Response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19)” project to learn about our global response to the pandemic.

Learn more about our Coronavirus response here: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-the-coronavirus-2019-ncov/

Between May 2018 and February 2021, International Medical Corps responded to a near continuous series of Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Helping to bring an end the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th outbreaks, our team focused on hotspots and the most vulnerable communities throughout each of these outbreaks.

This final update focuses on International Medical Corps’ response to the 10^th outbreak, the second largest Ebola outbreak in global history, claiming the lives of 2,287 of the 3,324 patients infected. It was made more complex by ongoing conflict and large-scale distrust of humanitarian organizations and government officials.

Throughout the two-year outbreak, International Medical Corps managed multiple Ebola Treatment Centers and Transit Centers where our team treated 3,859 patients, including 422 confirmed Ebola patients, and set up a network of 95 Screening-and-Referral Units (SRUs). SRUs provide screening for all who enter or depart the health facilities and have become a formidable tool in identifying Ebola cases early. Our team conducted 2 million screenings and detected more than 23,000 suspected Ebola cases.

One community impacted by the 10^th outbreak was Makeke. Residents of Makeke, a remote farming community of about 5,000 people, had to travel about six miles to reach the next town and the nearest health facility. International Medical Corps converted the temporary Makeke Ebola Treatment Center to a permanent 66-bed hospital with a maternity ward, an outpatient department, a general ward for caring for patients with chronic conditions, a triage unit, a two-bed emergency unit, a pediatric ward and a pharmacy.

On February 1, 2021, International Medical Corps officially handed the new hospital over to the Provincial Minister of Public Health. Beyond the community now having a local hospital where they can access essential health services, the conversion of the hospital and its warm reception by the community represented a critical step forward in building trust and acceptance – promising developments for better prevention and treatment in the future.

Kahambu, the mother of seven children, a community development worker in Makeke, and local chief said, “The Ebola Treatment Center was initially set up due to the outbreak. When the outbreak was declared over, we requested a hospital to be built in Makeke because we used to travel a long distance to Mangina to access treatment. I thank International Medical Corps who have helped us by bringing development here with this hospital. I ask them not to get tired and that they continue to support us because here at home there is still too much to do.”

Thanks to the support of the GlobalGiving community and other donors, International Medical Corps not only responded to the numerous Ebola outbreaks in the DRC, but also helped provide long-term healthcare access to a community that has not had it before.

Our team treats an Ebola patient in the DRC

The 66-bed Makeke Hospital

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Mar 12, 2021
Ebola Re-emerges in the DRC

By Caitlin Bartkus | Resource Development Officer

Dr. Eta arrived at the site of the latest outbreak

Ebola continues to plague the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In early February 2021, a new confirmed case of Ebola emerged in North Kivu, on the country’s conflict-ridden eastern edge, dashing hopes that the disease had been eradicated from the country after the last outbreak had officially been declared over in November 2020. As of March 5, the number of cases has grown to 11 with four deaths.

On February 7, a woman in her mid-forties tested positive for Ebola. She passed away 72 hours later. The source of the infection is thought to be an Ebola survivor as the virus can remain in certain areas of the body even after a patient has recovered. Following the confirmation, International Medical Corps deployed a team. Within 24 hours, our team was on the ground and is currently building an Ebola Treatment Center and caring for confirmed and suspected cases at a health facility that had previously been used to manage COVID-19 cases.

International Medical Corps has extensive experience responding to Ebola and other disease outbreaks, including in the DRC. The 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak, the 10^th and last in this region of the DRC, grew to be the largest and most complex in the country’s history. Dr. Eta, International Medical Corps’ Deputy Programs Director in the DRC, explained that, “Past Ebola outbreaks in the DRC have been well-controlled within a few weeks. Little did we know that the 10^th outbreak in the country would spread so extensively – we have learned to never underestimate an outbreak.” Lessons like this, and others, inform our ongoing Ebola response in North Kivu where our team is working tirelessly to bring an end to the latest outbreak.

International Medical Corps is grateful for the GlobalGiving community of donors and your continued support of our Ebola response efforts in the DRC.

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Nov 12, 2020
Counting Down to the End of an Ebola Outbreak

By Caitlin Bartkus | Resource Development Officer

Our team delivers essential supplies in the DRC

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been plagued with a near-continuous series of Ebola outbreaks since May 2018. The current outbreak in Equateur province, the 11^th in the country since 1796, has progressively subsided over the past five weeks. With no new confirmed cases reported, the DRC is nearing the end of the 42-day countdown until the outbreak can be declared over and the country is once again Ebola-free.

Between June 1 and September 28, 13 health zones in Equateur province reported a total of 130 confirmed cases, including 55 deaths and 75 recoveries. At 42% mortality, the Ebola mortality rate in this outbreak has been lower than during the tenth Ebola outbreak in the northeast of the DRC, which recorded a mortality rate of 67%. Mortality rates in other Ebola outbreaks have been as high as 90%. Advances in vaccinations and treatments for Ebola have helped reduce the mortality rate. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 40,000 people have been vaccinated during this current outbreak.

Throughout the outbreak in Equateur, International Medical Corps has been working alongside the Ministry of Health to isolate and manage 938 suspect patients—29 of whom were confirmed—at two Ebola Treatment Centers, in Wangata and Bikoro health zones. These health zones registered the highest number of confirmed cases. A third treatment center in the town of Buburu, in the Bomongo health zone, aims to reduce the risk of the disease spreading to the neighboring Republic of the Congo.

In addition to managing the three Ebola treatment centers, our team has provided personal protective equipment and basic water, sanitation and hygiene supplies, and helped to:

reinforce the ability of local healthcare providers to rapidly identify and isolate suspected cases while safely managing those confirmed; and,
reinforce infection prevention and control measures at 20 health facilities in the affected health zones and improve the management of medical waste.

If no new cases are confirmed, November 18 will mark the end of the outbreak and the beginning of a 90-day period of heightened surveillance. Community-based surveillance, maintaining high infection prevention and control measures at health facilities and facilitating access to primary healthcare and Ebola survivor-care programs, will be essential to these efforts. According to Dr. Rigo, International Medical Corps’ Country Director in the DRC, “The risk is still very high. We remain on watch.”

With the continued support from the GlobalGiving community and other donors, International Medical Corps is hopeful that the 11^th Ebola outbreak in the DRC will soon be at an end.

Our Ebola Treatment Center in Bikoro

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