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MSF intervention for Ebola outbreak extended

Country Map - Congo IRIN
The number of IDPs in the interior of Pool region, which surrounds Brazzaville, remains unknown
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has sent a second team to the Republic of Congo to assist with the Ebola intervention programme in the north of the country, MSF said in a statement. A cargo shipment was sent on 28 February to the capital, Brazzaville, with an additional three expatriates, MSF said, adding that the shipment included Ebola kits and isolation facilities. "Some of the staff will travel on to Mbomo [in the northeast], where two new cases of Ebola have been reported. Extra reinforcements are also coming from Goma in the [eastern] Democratic Republic of Congo," the statement said. "Two MSF teams will work in the region of Mbomo, which will also be used as a base for monitoring the area around Kéllé. No new reports of Ebola have been received from Kéllé up to now," it said. The team will specifically concentrate on sensitising the local population to the disease and available treatment. MSF teams would also set up quarantine facilities to treat and isolate new cases, noting that an additional problem was the inaccessibility of the region, which rendered logistical access very difficult, the report said. During the intervention, MSF is working closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Congolese Ministry of Health. On Monday, the Gabonese Ministry of Public Health and Population reported 60 confirmed cases, including 49 deaths, WHO said in its Ebola update 19. It added that contact-tracing was continuing. Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the body fluids of infected persons. There is no known cure, and between 50 and 90 per cent of victims die. The current outbreak started in December last year.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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