The National Ebola Taskforce has been reactivated and put on high alert to monitor cases of Ebola that have been reported in the region this week, Rwanda Biomedical Centre has announced.
This follows a case that was reported in Uganda’s central district of Mubende on September 19 where a 24-year-old man was diagnosed with Ebola after presenting symptoms. He later died.
A month ago, another Ebola case was confirmed in Beni District of North Kivu in DR Congo. This case was confirmed six weeks after another outbreak in Equateur Province of the same country in July.
However, the Director General for Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) Claude Mambo Muvunyi says there is no call for alarm because Rwanda has since 2018, built strong systems to counter Ebola outbreak and that their preparedness teams have been reactivated.
"We are closely monitoring these cases; we believe the Ugandan outbreak will be contained since it’s in one family. Also it’s a strain from South Sudan and not related to the one in DR Congo,” said Muvunyi.
The teams that the government have reactivated are charged with monitoring Ebola cases, screening at borders and have been equipped with tools to identify and handle any suspected case on the Rwandan territory
Besides putting teams in place, Muvunyi also said that there are lessons learnt from how Rwanda managed and contained the spread of coronavirus and among those include handwashing, social distancing and avoiding touching surfaces among others.
"We are well prepared. We have equipment to handle Ebola cases but we have also placed orders for more. We also have designated hospitals for isolation of Ebola suspects for 21 days,” Muvunyi said.
He added that they have also embarked on a sensitization campaign and that RBC would work with several stakeholders like the police and the Ministry of Health to reach out to as many communities as possible.
The 2018–2020 Ebola outbreak in DR Congo resulted in 3,481 cases and 2,299 deaths. However, Rwanda managed to prevent it from getting on its territory.
In 2019, Rwanda conducted clinical drills to assess the preparedness of medics at different public hospitals in high risk areas as far as Ebola response is concerned.
How Ebola spreads
Ebola is a rare but severe and often fatal illness affecting humans. It was first described in two simultaneous outbreaks in 1976 - one in what is now Nzara, South Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, in DR Congo, in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.
Disease outbreaks occur primarily in Africa, generally in areas surrounding rainforests in countries in the central parts of the continent. Cases have been transmitted to Europe, Asia and North America through infected people travelling.
It is thought that bats are the natural Ebola virus hosts. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as fruit bats, chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope or porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
It then spreads from human to human transmission through direct contact with the blood, secretions, or other bodily fluids of those infected with the virus, and with surfaces and materials contaminated with these fluids.
On average, 50% of people who contract Ebola will die, with case fatality rates varying between 25% to 90% during past outbreaks.