Twelve new confirmed Ebola cases reported from 1 to 7 January in DR Congo

The new case reported in Beni is linked to a transmission chain that originated in Aloya Health Area, Mabalako Health Zone.

Twelve new confirmed cases were reported from 1 to 7 January in the ongoing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces. The confirmed cases this week were reported from nine health areas in four health zones: Butembo (42%, n=5), Mambasa (33%, n=4), Mangina (17%, n=2), and Beni (8%, n=1). The new case reported in Beni is linked to a transmission chain that originated in Aloya Health Area, Mabalako Health Zone.

In the past 21 days (18 December 2019 to 7 January 2020), 41 confirmed cases were reported from 13 health areas within six active health zones in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces (Figure 2, Table 1): Mabalako (49%, n=20), Butembo (22%, n=9), Kalunguta (12%, n=5), Mambasa (10%, n=4), Katwa (5%, n=2), and Beni (2%, n=1). Mabalako Health Zone remains the main hotspot of the outbreak has reported 49% of confirmed cases in the past 21 days. Although the majority of the cases (76%, n=31) are linked to known chains of transmission, there are concerns around the reintroduction of the disease into health zones with dense populations that have previously been cleared, such as Butembo, Katwa, and Beni Health Zones. The sources of exposure for five new cases reported in Kalunguta Health Zone and four new cases reported in Mambasa Health Zone in the past 21 days are currently under investigation.

As of 7 January, a total of 3392 EVD cases were reported, including 3274 confirmed and 118 probable cases, of which 2235 cases died (overall case fatality ratio 66%) (Table 1). Of the total confirmed and probable cases, 56% (n=1903) were female, 28% (n=956) were children aged less than 18 years, and 169 (5% of all reported cases) were healthcare workers.