WHO has published Chikungunya – Congo (The). This is the neighbour of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Excerpt:
On 9 February 2019, the government of Congo officially declared an outbreak of chikungunya virus disease.
The outbreak was detected following an increase in the number of patients presenting to several health facilities with signs and symptoms of sudden onset of fever, joint pain and muscle pain and a subsequent laboratory confirmation of 12 samples in the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) in Kinshasa. The first suspected case was a symptomatic 49-year-old woman who presented on 7 January 2019 to a health facility in Diosso town, 25 kilometres north of Pointe-Noire. Samples taken during a joint investigation of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and WHO tested positive to chikungunya on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at INRB in Kinsasha.
From 1 January to 14 April 2019, a total of 6,149 suspected cases of chikungunya have been reported in the country with approximately 54% of reported cases being female. One hundred and seventy-three blood samples have been collected with 61 (35.3%) testing positive by PCR at INRB.
However, the scale of this outbreak has likely been underestimated given the limited detection capacity of the surveillance system in the country. Several mosquito breeding sites in affected areas and inadequate vector control mechanisms also represent major contributing factors for the outbreak.
The Ministry of Health has reported that the outbreak has spread to eight of twelve health departments in the country (Kouilou, Bouenza, Pointe Noire, Plateaux, Pool, Niari, Lékoumou and Brazzaville). Since the report of the first case on 7 January 2019, 47% of all cases have been reported from Kouilou Department. No deaths have been reported. This is the second outbreak reported in Congo since 2011 and no seasonal pattern has previously been observed.
