Kivu Ebola epidemic

This article is about an Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. For the prior Ebola outbreak in DRC, see 2018 Équateur province Ebola outbreak.

Kivu Ebola epidemic
Democratic Republic of the Congo & Uganda; areas affected by the epidemic.
Date1 August 2018 (2018-08-01) – 25 June 2020 (2020-06-25)[1]
Casualties
Country Cases (conf./prob./susp.) Deaths Last update
DRC 3,313 / 153 / 0 2,266[1][2]
Uganda 4 / 0 / 0 4[3][4][5][6][7]
Total 3,470
[note 1]		 2,280
[note 1]		 As of 25 June 2020

The Kivu Ebola epidemic[note 2] was an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) mainly in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and in other parts of Central Africa, from 2018 to 2020.[10] Between 1 August 2018 and 25 June 2020 it resulted in 3,470 reported cases.[11] The Kivu outbreak also affected Ituri Province, whose first case was confirmed on 13 August 2018.[9] In November 2018, the outbreak became the biggest Ebola outbreak in the DRC's history,[12][13][14] and had become the second-largest Ebola outbreak in recorded history worldwide,[11][15] behind only the 2013–2016 Western Africa epidemic.[11][16] In June 2019, the virus reached Uganda, having infected a 5-year-old Congolese boy who entered Uganda with his family,[17] but was contained.[11]

A military conflict in the region that had begun in January 2015 hindered treatment and prevention efforts. The World Health Organization (WHO) described the combination of military conflict and civilian distress as a potential "perfect storm" that could lead to a rapid worsening of the outbreak.[18][19] In May 2019, the WHO reported that since January, 85 health workers had been wounded or killed in 42 attacks on health facilities. In some areas, aid organizations had to stop their work due to violence.[20] Health workers also had to deal with misinformation spread by opposing politicians.[21]

Due to the deteriorating security situation in North Kivu and surrounding areas, the WHO raised the risk assessment at the national and regional level from "high" to "very high" in September 2018.[22] In October, the United Nations Security Council stressed that all armed hostility in the DRC should come to a stop to better fight the ongoing EVD outbreak.[23][24][25] A confirmed case in Goma triggered the decision by the WHO to convene an emergency committee for the fourth time,[26][27] and on 17 July 2019, the WHO announced a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the highest level of alarm the WHO can sound.[28]

On 15 September 2019, some slowdown of EVD cases was noted by the WHO in DRC.[29] However, contact tracing continued to be less than 100%; at the time, it was at 89%.[29] As of mid-October the transmission of the virus had significantly reduced; by then it was confined to the Mandima region near where the outbreak began, and was only affecting 27 health zones in the DRC (down from a peak of 207).[30] New cases dwindled to zero by 17 February 2020,[31] but after 52 days without a case, surveillance and response teams on the ground confirmed three new cases of Ebola in Beni health zone in mid-April.[32][33][34] On 25 June 2020, the outbreak was declared ended.[1][16]

As a new and separate outbreak, the Congolese health ministry reported on 1 June 2020 that there were cases of Ebola in Équateur Province in north-western DRC, described as the eleventh Ebola outbreak since records began.[35] This separate outbreak was declared over as of 18 November following no reported cases for 42 days,[36] and caused 130 cases and 55 deaths.[37]

  1. ^ a b c "DR Congo's deadliest Ebola outbreak declared over". BBC News. 25 June 2020. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS". who.maps.arcgis.com. 25 June 2020. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  3. ^ Gladstone, Rick (12 June 2019). "Two More Ebola Cases Diagnosed in Uganda as First Victim, 5, Dies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  4. ^ Muhumuza, Rodney; Keaten, Jamey (13 June 2019). "2nd Ebola death in Uganda after outbreak crosses border". ABC News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 13 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak Uganda Situation Reports" (PDF). World Health Organization (WHO). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Update of Ebola Outbreak in Kasese District, 21 June 2019 – Uganda". ReliefWeb. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 23 June 2019. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  7. ^ "Congolese girl, 9, dies of Ebola in Uganda – hospital official". Reuters. 30 August 2019. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Situation épidémiologique dans les provinces du Nord-Kivu et de l'Ituri" (in French). Dr. Oly Ilunga Kalenga, Ministre de la Santé. 13 June 2019. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  9. ^ a b "EBOLA RDC – Evolution de la riposte contre l'épidémie d'Ebola dans la province du Nord Kivu au Lundi 13 août 2018". mailchi.mp (in French). Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  10. ^ "History of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Outbreaks". CDC.gov. 22 January 2021. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d "WHO | Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of the Congo". WHO. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  12. ^ "EBOLA RDC – Evolution de la riposte contre l'épidémie d'Ebola dans les provinces du Nord Kivu et de l'Ituri au Vendredi 9 novembre 2018". mailchi.mp (in French). Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Current Ebola Outbreak Is Worst in Congo's History: Ministry". usnews.com. Us News and World report. Archived from the original on 10 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  14. ^ Mahamba, Fiston; Cocks, Tim; Reese, Chris (15 October 2018). "Congo confirms 33 Ebola cases in past week, of whom 24 died". Reuters. Archived from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2alltime was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ a b Maxmen, Amy (26 June 2020). "World's second-deadliest Ebola outbreak ends in Democratic Republic of the Congo". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01950-0. PMID 34172954. S2CID 220503726. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference ugandaepi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Belluz, Julia (25 September 2018). "An Ebola "perfect storm" is brewing in Democratic Republic of the Congo". Vox. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  19. ^ "Ebola-hit DRC faces 'perfect storm' as uptick in violence halts WHO operation – Democratic Republic of the Congo". ReliefWeb. OCHA. 25 September 2018. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  20. ^ "World Digest: CONGO: Death toll tops 1,000 in Ebola outbreak". The Washington Post. 3 May 2019. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  21. ^ Spinney, Laura (17 January 2019). "In Congo, fighting a virus and a groundswell of fake news". Science. 363 (6424): 213–214. Bibcode:2019Sci...363..213S. doi:10.1126/science.363.6424.213. PMID 30655420. S2CID 58622277.
  22. ^ "Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of the Congo". World Health Organization (WHO). Archived from the original on 26 November 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  23. ^ "UN calls for end to Congo fighting to combat Ebola outbreak". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  24. ^ Gladstone, Rick (12 June 2019). "Boy, 5, and Grandmother Die in Uganda as More Ebola Cases Emerge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference WHO14June2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ "High-level meeting on the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo affirms support for Government-led response and UN system-wide approach". World Health Organization (WHO). Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  27. ^ Schnirring, Lisa (15 July 2019). "Ebola spread to Goma triggers new emergency talks, cases top 2,500". CIDRAP. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  28. ^ Goldberg, Mark Leon (17 July 2019). "The World Health Organization Just Declared an Ebola "Emergency" in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here's What That Means". UN Dispatch. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  29. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference none was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Soucheray, Stephanie (10 October 2019). "WHO: Ebola outbreak back to where it began". CIDRAP News. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  31. ^ "Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of the Congo". WHO. 8 March 2020. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  32. ^ "WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 – 10 April 2020". www.who.int. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  33. ^ "New Ebola case in the DRC dashes hopes that outbreak was over". STAT. 10 April 2020. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  34. ^ "Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of the Congo". WHO. 16 April 2020. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  35. ^ "New outbreak declared in Equateur province". Médecins Sans Frontières. 4 June 2020. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  36. ^ "For the first time since 2018, there is no active Ebola outbreak in the DRC". U.S. Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 18 November 2020. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  37. ^ "UNICEF welcomes end of Ebola outbreak in the Equateur Province of the DRC". www.unicef.org. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.


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