By NewsDesk  @bactiman63

Measles

Health officials with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) report since the beginning of 2019, a total of 87,000 suspected measles cases (1.8 % CFR) through May 18.

rougeoleThis represents an increase of more than 700 percent, compared to the epidemiological situation for the same period in 2018.

For the whole of 2018, the country had notified 65,098 suspected cases of measles, of which 2,908 cases were investigated, of which 961 were confirmed with a lethality of 1.3 percent.

Vaccination rates in DRC is bad with less than half of all children being fully immunized.

The increases in measles prompted the Mashako Plan. The Mashako Plan is the emergency plan for the revival of routine immunization in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Validated in October 2018, the Mashako Plan covers nine priority provinces : Ituri, Kasai, Upper Katanga, Mongala, Kwilu, Tanganyika, Kinshasa, Tshuapa and Haut-Lomami.

The Mashako Plan aims at the ambitious goal of increasing vaccination coverage by 15 points by vaccinating  200,000 additional children in 18 months (October 2018 – April 2020).

Ebola

Since the beginning of the epidemic, the cumulative number of cases is 2,062, of which 1,968 are confirmed and 94 are probable. In total, there were 1,390 deaths (1,296 confirmed and 94 probable).

According to a report dated June 9, six new confirmed cases were reported: including 3 in Mabalako, 1 in Mandima, 1 in Beni and 1 in Musienene. In addition, six new confirmed case deaths: 1 community death in Musienene and 5 deaths at CTE, including 3 in Katwa and 2 in Butembo.

The World Health Organization reports, the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces continue, although with a declining trend in the past weeks. This follows a period of improved
security and so access to communities, allowing response teams to operate more freely.