The Department of Preventive Health announced that it will collaborate with international organizations to assess the risk of disease outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo to propose appropriate responses.
In relation to the mysterious disease outbreak in Congo that has resulted in 406 reported cases, including 31 fatalities, Mr. Hoang Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Preventive Health (Ministry of Health), stated that the Ministry is closely monitoring the situation as it develops.
According to Mr. Hoang Minh Duc, the Department of Preventive Health is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and IHR focal points from various countries to update and share information regarding the outbreak.
The outbreak in Congo has resulted in 31 deaths. (Photo: Moses Sawasawa/AP).
If there are new developments, the Department of Preventive Health will collaborate with WHO, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and relevant units to assess the risk and propose appropriate measures, including enhancing health quarantine efforts.
The Department of Preventive Health indicated that the WHO assesses the risk level for affected communities in the outbreak area as high, based on information regarding limited access to healthcare services, low vaccination rates, and difficult living conditions, food security, and transportation in the area. Initial information indicates clusters of cases within families, suggesting potential intra-household transmission.
However, at the national level in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the risk is considered moderate due to the localized nature of the current outbreak, although there remains a possibility of spread to neighboring areas.
At the regional and global levels, the WHO assesses the risk as low, noting the importance of monitoring at the borders with neighboring countries, particularly Angola, near the outbreak area.
Several countries in the region also consider the risk of disease importation from the Democratic Republic of Congo to be low, due to the minimal number of travelers coming from that area and the absence of direct flights from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Previously, the WHO reported that in the Panzi area of Kwango Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, 406 cases of an unknown disease have been recorded, including 31 fatalities.
The symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, cough, runny nose, and muscle pain. The majority of cases involve children (53% of cases and 54.8% of fatalities are under 5 years old) and all severe cases have been associated with severe malnutrition.
The affected area is rural and remote, located far from the capital city Kinshasa (48 hours by road). This region has experienced food shortages in recent months; medical conditions are inadequate, vaccination rates are low, and access to diagnosis and case management is extremely limited.
Malaria is common in this area and is believed to be potentially related to the reported cases; however, malaria control measures are also very limited.
