“We have received confirmation that a sample taken ten days ago by the Ministry of Health was positive for the Zaire Ebola virus. Our investigation team is headed to Likati with personal protective equipment and the necessary medicine to handle suspected and confirmed cases,” says Dr. Moumouni Kinda, program manager for ALIMA.
In the health zone of Likati, located in the province of Bas-Uélé, at least 9 suspected cases including 3 deaths have been registered. “We are working in collaboration with the Congolese Ministry of Health and are doing everything we can to prevent the spread of the outbreak,” Moumouni Kinda said. “It is essential that all actors work together in order to deploy emergency medical assistance because the populations live in an isolated area where access to care is extremely limited.”
Appropriate infection prevention and control measures, contact tracing and active case finding, as well as epidemiological surveillance must be put in place rapidly to contain the outbreak.
Doctors, nurses, logisticians and hygiene and sanitation experts will reinforce the ALIMA team in the province of Bas-Uélé within 48 hours.
The support of the Start Fund made it possible for ALIMA to rapidly deploy emergency medical assistance in this particularly difficult to access zone.
The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) is a medical humanitarian organization that works hand in hand with a network of local medical organizations to provide quality medical care to the most vulnerable individuals in emergency situations and recurrent crises. ALIMA and its partners are conducting leading-edge research to improve medical humanitarianism.
Based in Dakar, Senegal, ALIMA has treated over 2 million patients in 12 countries since its inception in 2009 and has launched 10 research projects focused on malnutrition, malaria and Ebola.
Photo : Ebola outbreak in Guinea, December 2015 – Sylvain Cherkaoui / COSMOS / ALIMA
