Respiratory infection, not haemorrhagic fever, in Kasai

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have determined that an outbreak of acute respiratory infection, and not haemorrhagic fever as was earlier speculated, is at the root of an epidemic in the central province of Kasai Occidental. Following an evaluation mission conducted by a team of representatives the DRC Ministry of Health, the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and international medical aid NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), WHO reported on Thursday that 17 deaths from 205 cases reported in the health zone of Dekese, centred in the villages of Mbisangandu and Bongondo, appear to have resulted from an as yet unidentified respiratory infection. Blood samples taken from patients have been sent to Kinshasa and South Africa for analysis. The majority of deaths have occurred in children under five years and adults over 60 years. However, WHO reported that treatment with antibiotics is proving effective. The WHO Emergency Coordinator for the Great Lakes region, Erik Schouten, told IRIN on Thursday that the relatively high 8 percent level of mortality could be attributed to the already weakened condition of populations resulting from years of conflict in the DRC. He said that reports of another suspected outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in Watsa, in northeastern Orientale Province, remained unconfirmed. Meanwhile in Gabon, a team of scientists from WHO and its partners in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network are helping to coordinate an international response to a confirmed outbreak of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the Ogooue-Ivindo province in the northeastern part of the country.