1. Situation update
Weekly numbers of confirmed Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases have slightly decreased in past weeks. Over the past seven days, a total of 88 new confirmed cases were reported compared to the previous week where 121 new confirmed cases were reported. Katwa, one of epicentres of the outbreak, reported fewer cases this week, while other health zones such as Mabalako, Kalunguta and Mandima have seen an increase in case reporting. Active transmission was reported in 14 of the 22 health zones that have been affected to date. Other initial encouraging findings such as a lower proportion of reported nosocomial infections, a lower proportion of community deaths and a higher proportion of registered contacts at case detection have also been reported. However, this decrease in the number of reported cases should be interpreted with extreme caution given the complex operating environment and fragility of the security situation. Weekly fluctuations in these indicators have been reported in the past and uncertainties remain with regards to the ability of the surveillance system to identify all new cases in areas faced with ongoing insecurity. Operations are still regularly hampered by security issues, and the risk of national and regional spread remains very high.
Mabalako reported 23% (73/320) of the new confirmed cases in the past 21 days. Nine out of the 12 Mabalako health areas have reported new confirmed cases during this period. In the 21 days between 6 to 26 May 2019, 88 health areas within 14 health zones reported new cases, representing 49% of the 179 health areas affected to date (Table 1 and Figure 2). During this period, a total of 320 confirmed cases were reported, the majority of which were from the health zones of Mabalako (23%, n=73), Butembo (19%, n=61), Katwa (14%, n=45), Kalunguta (12%, n=37), Beni (11%, n=35) ), Musienene (7%, n=23) and Mandima (7%, n=22).
As of 26 May 2019, a total of 1920 EVD cases, including 1826 confirmed and 94 probable cases, were reported. A total of 1281 deaths were reported (overall case fatality ratio 67%), including 1187 deaths among confirmed cases. Of the 1920 confirmed and probable cases with known age and sex, 58% (1113) were female, and 29% (565) were children aged less than 18 years. The number of healthcare workers affected has risen to 105 (6%of total cases).