As of 31 May, a total of 700 suspected yellow fever (YF) cases, including 63 deaths, had been reported from all the provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the national surveillance system. To date, a total of 52 cases have been laboratory-confirmed for YF.

DRC map
Democratic Republic of the Congo/CIA

The 52 confirmed cases are from five provinces: Kongo Central (36 cases), Kinshasa (11 cases), Kwango (3 cases), Bas Uélé (1 case) and Tshuapa (1 case). The two cases from Bas Uélé and Tshuapa are sylvatic and not related to the outbreak in Angola. Two of the 52 confirmed cases were classified as autochthonous and were reported from the provinces of Kinshasa and Kongo Central. The remaining 46 confirmed cases were classified as imported from Angola and were detected in the provinces of Kongo Central (34 cases), Kinshasa (9 cases) and Kwango (3 cases).

WHO classified the outbreak as a Grade 2 Emergency in accordance with the Emergency Response Framework (ERF). WHO has deployed a multidisciplinary team in Kongo Central and in Kinshasa to provide technical support to national authorities.

On 26 May, a reactive campaign vaccination began with a target of 1,983,597 people from 9 health zones in Kongo Central and 2 health zones in Kinshasa. The International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision approved the vaccine request for DRC and released 2,200,000 doses of vaccines and operational fund for the campaign.

Related: