Ebola Outbreak

Outbreaks: Ebola, Influenza, West Nile Virus, etc.
(this page last updated 12/05/03 )

Ebola Outbreak in Republic of Congo November 2003--
(Previous recent outbreak: Republic of Congo -- Mbomo and the neighboring district of Kelle were stricken with Ebola in late 2002. The epidemic lasted until May of 2003. Of the 143 people who became ill with the disease, 128 died. At that time, WHO traced the probable cause of the Ebola outbreak to dead monkeys, which were eaten by the people in the communities.)

Current outbreak: Mbomo, Republic of Congo (in the Cuvette West region, a remote northern area near the border with Gabon) -- About 13 original cases including 11 early deaths. First reports emerged Oct. 31. Thirteen new cases added by 11/21/03.
WHO Disease Outbreak News

Record (by dates) of Current Outbreak
Date and links to reports from WHO	Total Cases	Deaths	Contacts	News

12/3/03 WHO update 4	47	28	97 contacts are being followed up
11/25/03 WHO update 3	36	18		Mbomo (33 cases, 15 deaths) and Mbandza (3 cases, 3 deaths)
11/21/03 WHO update 2	24	12		WHO: Ministry of Health of the Republic of the Congo has reported a total of 24 cases, including 12 deaths, in Mbomo (19 cases, nine deaths) and Mbandza (five cases, three deaths) Thirteen new cases (including one death) have been reported since 17 November, 2003. Twelve cases are currently ill at Mbomo (10) and Mbandza (2). [WHO report also describes the response team and cooperating ministries, etc.]
11/17/03 WHO rept	11	11		WHO: (1 laboratory-confirmed and 10 epidemiologically linked) The Government of the Republic of the Congo has officially declared the epidemic as due to Ebola haemorrhagic fever... The government has requested the assistance of WHO in controlling the outbreak. The WHO Regional Office for Africa dispatched the West Africa sub-regional epidemic response team which has arrived in the Cuvette Ouest Département.
11/7/03 WHO rept	12 suspected	9		Health Minister Alain Moka said the disease appeared to have broken out again near Mbomo, about 440 miles (700 kilometers) north of the central African nation's capital, Brazzaville, and just across the border from Gabon, in a region known as Cuvette-Ouest. "A group of hunters went into the forest and in spite of the advice given, they collected the meat of a dead boar ... Nine of them died. The only survivor is a young schoolboy who refused to touch the game," Moka said.