DR Congo tests over 300 passengers after suspected Ebola death on boat
Congolese health authorities were screening more than 300 people travelling on a river boat intercepted near Kinshasa on Thursday after the death of a passenger suspected of having Ebola raised concerns the virus may have spread on board, officials said. Authorities deployed a mobile laboratory to the vessel after it was stopped in Maluku, around 65km (40 miles) upstream from the capital on…
Conventional healthcare officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo were inspecting more than three hundred individuals aboard a river vessel intercepted near Kinshasa on Thursday. This probe was initiated subsequent to the demise of a passenger suspected of having Ebola, which raised apprehensions about potential virus dissemination aboard the ship.
Authorities deployed a mobile laboratory to the vessel after it was halted in Maluku, situated approximately 65 kilometers (40 miles) upstream from the capital city on Wednesday. Secretary General of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s health ministry, Body Ilonga Bompoko, disclosed that all passengers were undergoing temperature examinations and clinical screening.
He informed reporters that specimens from four passengers exhibiting symptoms such as fever had been collected for testing, with results anticipated on Friday. The intervention was triggered following health authorities in Mongala province reporting the death of a 32-year-old man suspected of having Ebola on July 25, who was believed to have traveled on the vessel.
Officials have provided conflicting accounts regarding the man's itinerary and potential exposure to the virus. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director General, Jean Kaseya, stated on Thursday that the boat purportedly originated from Mongala province, a region devoid of recorded Ebola cases, contrary to Congo authorities' earlier assertion that it originated from Tshopo province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
Kaseya also mentioned that the infected individual fell ill during the voyage, while Congo Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba asserted on Wednesday that his symptoms surfaced only after disembarking from the ship. Mongala provincial health chief Eustache Bibala Faray indicated that health authorities had yet to ascertain the exact location where the man boarded the vessel.
Health officials initially associated the case to Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province, due to the presence of documents suggesting his origin. In a separate development, Kaseya announced the decision to broaden the application of a vaccine developed against the Zaire ebolavirus species, as data indicated its potential protective effect against the Bundibugyo species driving the ongoing outbreak. He also revealed plans to augment the use of the antiviral drug remdesivir in affected regions.
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