Building trust and lab testing at the heart of DRC Ebola response: WHO

The fast-moving outbreak, which has also spread to neighbouring Uganda, is caused by the rare and deadly Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. WHO’s Health Emergency Alert and Response Operations Director, Dr Abdirahman Mahamud, told reporters in Geneva that as of 8 June in DRC, there have been 550 confirmed cases and 101 deaths. 

“The good news [is], we have 19 cumulative recovered patients, so early identification and treatment save lives,” he said.

Speaking from Bunia in Ituri Province, which accounts for 94 per cent of total cases in the country, Dr Mahamud explained that the rise in confirmed cases “is due to the scale-up of testing”. More decentralized labs have opened to accelerate analysis of suspected Ebola samples, including a fully functional facility in Mongbwalu, he said. 

Uganda has reported 19 confirmed cases including two deaths, as well as one probable individual who has died. WHO said that there is no evidence of community transmission in Uganda so far. 

Remote chance

In DRC as of 6 June, 5,040 contacts had been identified and were under follow-up across Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. The ramp-up in contact tracing has enabled health workers to reach 62 per cent of the contacts so far, with hopes of reaching the 90 to 95 per cent target “in the coming weeks”, Dr Mahamud said. He described making “slow and steady progress” based on building trust and working with the community.

The WHO official stressed that local healthcare workers play an essential role in early identification and referral of cases to treatment centres. He described the current set-up as “a well-functioning system that’s integrated from surveillance to contact tracing to the treatment centre and to the lab”, along with efficient data sharing.

Still, major challenges remain, including in remote locations with limited connectivity, from where samples may take eight hours to reach a lab.

“Ituri is as big as France,” Dr Mahamud said. “If you are in Bunia, you can get your result in one or two hours”, whereas for places further away from testing facilities, the process can take 24 hours. 

In a positive development, in remote Aru close to the Ugandan border, where samples have to travel for 10 hours by road for testing, a lab will be operational by Friday, he said. 

So far WHO has set up field laboratories in five affected areas to enable testing closer to the epicentre of the outbreak. Working with partners in support of Government-led efforts, the UN health agency has deployed over 100 personnel to the DRC, delivered 40 tonnes of equipment and medical supplies, and helped set up Ebola treatment centres.