The Technical Secretariat did not send out its August 15 update until late last night. Here is an excerpt from the Google translation:
MULTISECTORAL NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RESPONSE TO EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE
TECHNICAL SECRETARIAT
SUBJECT: EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SITUATION IN THE PROVINCES OF NORTH KIVU AND ITURI AT AUGUST 14, 2019.
Date: Thursday, August 15, 2019
Since the beginning of the epidemic, the cumulative number of cases is 2,852, of which 2,758 confirmed and 94 probable. In total, there were 1,913 deaths (1,819 confirmed and 94 probable) and 848 people healed.
• 353 suspected cases under investigation;
• 10 new confirmed cases, including 9 in North Kivu, including 4 in Beni, 3 in Kalunguta, 2 in Katwa and 1 in Ituri in Mandima;
• 8 new confirmed deaths, including 7 in North Kivu and 1 in Ituri:
º 2 community deaths, including 1 in North Kivu in Kalunguta and 1 in Ituri in Mandima;
º 5 deaths in CTEs in North Kivu, including 3 in Beni, 1 in Katwa and 1 in Mabalako;
º 1 death in the CT in North Kivu in Beni;
• 4 cured people released from CTEs, including 3 in North Kivu in Beni and 1 in Ituri in Komanda;
• One health worker, living and vaccinated, is one of the new confirmed cases in Katwa. The cumulative number of confirmed/probable cases among health workers is 153 (5% of all confirmed/probable cases), including 41 deaths.
/!\ The data presented in this table are subject to change after extensive investigation and after redistribution of cases and deaths in their respective health areas.
News
Closing in Goma of the cross-border meeting between Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan and the DRC on the MVE
• The cross-border meeting on the EVD, which brought together the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan, ended on Thursday, August 15, 2019. From this meeting, several recommendations emerged from which the establishment bilateral collaboration with the DRC and sharing of expertise, development of memoranda of understanding, protocols and standard operating procedures to guide areas for such collaboration, establishment of common cross-border monitoring and joint response between DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan, as well as the acceleration of emergency health expert travel and joint assessments to consolidate lessons learned and make recommendations. according to the IHR at the end of the epidemic;
• In addition, WHO and other partners will provide technical and financial assistance to countries to monitor and implement the recommendations, convene a high-level political meeting and follow up on the implementation of the recommendations;
• This two-day meeting brought together health experts from four countries and different stakeholders in the response. It was organized by WHO to respond to its July 2019 decision in Geneva to place the 10th EVD epidemic in the DRC as a health emergency of international concern. However, WHO has recommended that all neighboring DRC countries prepare to effectively treat potential cases of Ebola and other health emergencies;
• It aimed to discuss measures to strengthen cross-border collaboration between the DRC and these three countries with Ebola response preparedness as a first priority. Participants discussed, in turn, several themes, including the situation of the EVD outbreak in the DRC, the status of activities and emergency preparedness capacities in the districts bordering the DRC. DRC, the overview of the fourth edition of the Strategic Response Plan, strengthening the functions and operational framework of the mandatory and optional National Focal Points (NFPs) of the IHR and improving cross-border collaboration in the context of the HIV / AIDS epidemic. EVD in the DRC.
• Next steps will be the development and finalization of the bilateral roadmaps for the implementation of the above recommendations with concrete timelines and resources, as well as the organization of a high-level political meeting to encourage political ownership and mobilization of domestic resources.
Organization of a press conference on the success of two out of four molecules used against EVD in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri
• The Technical Secretary of the multisectoral committee against Ebola Prof. Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe announced this Thursday, August 15, 2019 the victory of two effective molecules to cure Ebola Virus Disease;
• These are mAb114 and Regeneron, two of the most advanced molecules among the four molecules, whose protocol is applied under the acronym MEURI (Mab114, Regeneron, ZMapp and Remdesivir) set up as soon as this 10th epidemic is declared by the Expert Committee convened by WHO;
• Mab114 is a monoclonal antibody isolated from the blood of a survivor of the Ebola outbreak in Kikwit. This is the result of a study conducted for a decade by the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) in collaboration with the United States National Institute of Health (NIH);
• The therapeutic efficacy of these two molecules was confirmed by a randomized, controlled study initiated since November 20, 2018 by the INRB in collaboration with NIH and some international NGOs, including Médecins sans frontières (MSF) and the Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA), coordinated by WHO with the approval of the Ethics Committees of the DRC School of Public Health and the US NIH;
• "These very encouraging results allow us to say that Ebola is no longer a non-incurable disease, but today there are drugs, one of which is a product of collaboration with Congolese scientists," said Muyembe.
• The press conference was held in front of Health Secretary Sylvain Yuma Ramazani, Health Minister Mukengeshay Kupa's Office Director, and US Ambassador Michael A. Hammer, as well as several researchers from the Ministry of Health.
