Brazzaville 10 March 2003 -- As of 8 March 2003, 115 probable cases were reported in the current Ebola outbreak in the Republic of Congo, with the death toll rising to 97, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Congo, Dr Lamine Sarr, said in Brazzaville Monday.

One more case has also been confirmed, bringing to six the number of laboratory confirmed cases since 19 February when WHO first reported that the outbreak had been confirmed in blood samples from suspected Ebola cases admitted at Kelle district hospital in Congo's densely forested Kelle district.

Dr Sarr said that a breakdown of the latest figures showed that the disease had so far claimed 86 lives in 10 villages in Kelle district, and killed 11 others in three villages in Mbomo district, just 100 kilometres further north. Kelle and Mbomo districts are in Congo's Cuvette-Ouest Region which borders Gabon.

The 10 worst affected villages in Kelle district are Abolo, Akamou, Ambomi, Andjokou, Entsiami, Kelle, Lossi, Ndjoukou, Ongonda and Yembelangoye. The first victim or "index case" was reported in Yembelangoye on 4 January. In Mbomo district, the three worst affected villages are Ilombo la Pendo, Mbomo, and Lengui-Lengui Mbomo.

"Case search and case management are continuing apace, and suspected cases and "contacts" (persons who have had direct contacts with suspected or confirmed Ebola cases)are being systematically monitored" said Dr Paul Lusamba-Dikassa, the Regional Adviser for Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Response at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, just back to Brazzaville from a visit to the outbreak area.

"It is true that less cases are being reported now than five weeks ago. But we would be cautions in reporting a tapering off of new infections at this time, given the difficulty in accessing remote villages, the mode of transmission of the disease and the fact that there are more than 100 contacts under surveillance", Dr Lusamba-Dikassa said. "Remember, even one case of Ebola is to be considered an outbreak."

One isolation centre has been set up at Kelle district hospital, and another at Mbomo district hospital to contain the spread of the disease and to provide adequate care to patients, Dr Lusamba-Dikassa said.

The WHO official also reports an improvement in the cooperation between the local community and the WHO-led outbreak control teams made up of national and international experts and volunteers brought together within the framework of WHO`s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network.

The Network is a technical collaboration of existing institutions and networks which pool human and technical resources for the rapid identification, confirmation and response to outbreaks of international importance. It provides an operational framework to link this expertise and skill to keep the international community constantly alert to the threat of outbreaks, and ready to respond.

Among the international experts working to contain the latest Ebola outbreak in Congo are four clinicians, three epidemiologists, three medical anthropologists and two logisticians. Their activities range from case management and case search to surveillance of contacts and provision of public information, including advice and assistance with safe burial practices.

Dr Lusamba-Dikassa added: "As the situation is very dynamic, the size and composition of the field team will be adjusted accordingly. The efforts of the outbreak control team in the field are being hampered by enormous logistical problems in terms of road access to affected localities, transport and telecommunications, but we are encouraged by the cooperation of all our partners in support of the Congolese government."

For further information, please contact Samuel T. Ajibola
Public Information and Communication Unit 
World Health Organization - Regional Office for Africa 
P.O. Box 6 Brazzaville, Congo. 
E-mail: ajibolas [at] afro.who.int 
Tel: 1 321 953 9378; Fax: 1 321 953 9513