Three Ebola treatment centres, 240 beds, more than 120 medical staff. All of it run by Uganda, and none of it in Uganda. It's Wednesday, October 28th, and this is Ebola Watch. First, Kampala's teams working on the Congolese side of the border, plus Congo's latest count. Then Africa CDC puts money behind Kenya on the day African health ministers meet.
Claver Ndushabandi, reporting for ChimpReports from Kampala:
Uganda has deployed more than 120 medical personnel and established three Ebola treatment centres with a combined capacity of 240 beds in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as part of efforts to contain the outbreak at its source and prevent further cross-border infections.
Ugandan teams inside Congo. Where, on a map? Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi named three sites on Sunday, October 25th. Aru. Butembo, in North Kivu. And Kasenyi, where patients used to be moved about 60 kilometres to Bunia for care. He said a fourth centre, at Bulongo near the border, was expected to open this week to serve communities including Kasindi. Why is Kampala paying for beds in someone else's country? His stated reason is to bring care closer, so fewer people cross into Uganda looking for it. Uganda declared its own outbreak over on July 28th and reports no confirmed case since. This is cooperation between neighbours functioning as disease control, which is why we lead with it. The release makes a big claim about survival, though. It does. The minister puts the share of confirmed patients who died at 17.7 percent in Aru, 15 in Kasenyi and 15.9 in Butembo, against a reported national rate of 48.2 percent. The article itself cautions that patient condition, severity and timing of admission may influence those comparisons. So it is not evidence these centres cut deaths by two thirds. Fair. What about speed? Mobile labs, he says, cut test turnaround from four or five days to roughly four to six hours. And Congo overall? ECDC's October 27th update, using ministry data through Sunday, has 10,060 confirmed cases and 4,887 deaths, about 48.6 percent. That's up from the 4,841 deaths we reported yesterday. And contact tracing? Here the numbers disagree. ECDC says 81.6 percent of identified contacts are under follow-up. A statement from Congo's public health institute, carried by the Congolese Press Agency after Monday's coordination meeting, says around 87 percent. We haven't seen the two reconciled. Al Jazeera adds that about 80 percent of new cases come from outside the transmission chains authorities are monitoring. More beds and faster tests, while most new cases still surprise the people tracking them.
Africa CDC, in a statement published by allAfrica:
In solidarity with Kenya, Africa CDC has mobilised approximately US$1.5 million in financial, technical and operational support to reinforce national response efforts.
What does a million and a half actually buy? Ten African public health experts, laboratory reagents and test kits, and help with surveillance, contact tracing, case management and community engagement. Separately, about 350,000 dollars of equipment for Kenya's emergency operations centre. The agency announced it Tuesday, after Director-General Jean Kaseya met Kenya's Health Cabinet Secretary, Aden Duale. Anyone else writing cheques? The UN. On Tuesday a spokesperson for the Secretary-General said the Kenya Humanitarian Fund, managed by OCHA, has allocated more than 2 million dollars for border surveillance, rapid response training and preparedness along routes tied to the Kakuma refugee complex in northwestern Kenya. Is Kenya getting worse, then? Not on the reported numbers. ECDC says the last case in Kenya's single cluster was reported on October 20th. It's still nine confirmed cases and two deaths. 98 contacts remain in quarantine, due for release in waves from Tuesday, November 3rd. And the ministers' meeting we flagged? It's today, virtually. Africa CDC says the extraordinary meeting will assess the situation and agree on urgent measures. Nothing has come out of it yet. Africa Confidential frames the backdrop as a widening funding gap, with a Bundibugyo-specific vaccine still months away. Practical question. If I'm flying through the region, am I at risk? ECDC, assessing Europeans, rates the likelihood of infection for people living in or travelling to affected areas as low. WHO continues to advise against travel restrictions. Money is flowing to the country with nine cases. Let's see what the ministers find for the one with ten thousand.
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On Thursday we'll report whatever the health ministers agree, if they publish it, and whether Uganda's Bulongo centre has opened. Ebola Watch is made by Lantern Podcasts. Stay informed, stay steady, and we'll be back with you tomorrow.