Citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been urged not to panic amid the first Ebola outbreak since the West Africa crisis. The country is being hit by its eighth Ebola outbreak.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/EPA/Frederick A. Murphy
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DRC Health Minister Oly Ilunga used a national television address on Saturday to urge the population "not to panic" following a new Ebola outbreak.
The country "has taken all necessary measures to respond quickly and efficiently to this new outbreak," Ilunga said.
Three people have died of the virus in the DRC since April 22, with the country's eighth outbreak affecting an equatorial forest region in Bas-Uele province, bordering Central African Republic.
The World Health Organization said Saturday the outbreak was limited to a remote area and did not warrant travel or trade restrictions.
"Investigations are ongoing to assess the full extent of the outbreak and therefore high vigilance still needs to be maintained," the UN organization said.
The WHO said it is sending a team of experts to the area and that health workers would be supplied with protective equipment. The Alliance For International Medical Action said in a statement one of its teams was on its way to the area of Likati with protective gear and medicine to treat "suspected and confirmed cases."
Taxi driver ferrying patient dies
"The first case and possibly the index case, a 39-year-old male, presented onset of symptoms on April 22, and deceased on arrival at the health facility," a WHO statement said.
WHO presents Ebola vaccine
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"Two contacts of this case are being investigated: a person who took care of him during transport to the health care facility, he has since developed similar symptoms, and a moto-taxi driver who transported the patient to the health care facility," it said, adding that the taxi driver had died.
Two more suspected cases were found in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 11, WHO's Congo spokesman Eugene Kabambi told Reuters.
A vaccine was trialed among almost 12,000 people in the Guinean capital, Conakry, through to January last year. Results showed the experimental vaccine offered protection against the virus and would help to bolster an early response to future outbreaks. It was still awaiting formal licensing clearance.
In 2014, the DRC was hit by its seventh Ebola virus outbreak, which killed 49 people but was unrelated to the concurrent outbreak in West Africa. The West African Ebola virus epidemic killed more than 10,000 people between 2013 and 2016.
Ebola vaccine research in African town made famous by Albert Schweitzer
Lambarene in Gabon is well known for the Albert Schweitzer Hospital named after the famous physician and Nobel Peace laureate. It could make medical history yet again with research into an Ebola vaccine.
Image: DW/J.-P. Scholz/A. Kriesch
Sleepy fishing town
Lambarene is a town in the West African state of Gabon. Many of the 25,000 inhabitants depend on fishing for their livelihood. But the town is best known for the Albert Schweitzer Hospital.
Image: DW/J.-P. Scholz/A. Kriesch
Tight budget
Schweitzer, a German and then French national was a philosopher, theologian, musical scholar. He then later obtained a medical degree and opened a hospital in Lambarene in 1913 as recompense for European guilt over colonialism. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. His hospital exists to this day, but its medical equipment is hopelessly out-of-date.
Image: DW/J.-P. Scholz/A. Kriesch
Schweitzer less well known
"The money just isn't there for modernization," said Hansjorg Fotouri, the hospital's director. "Donations have fallen off dramatically in recent years. There are now fewer people around who knew Schweitzer personally," he said. Fotouri wants to found a center to promote dialogue between traditional and western medicine.
Image: DW/J.-P. Scholz/A. Kriesch
Fighting Ebola with medical research
There is a new research center next to the Albert Schweitzer Hospital. African and European scientists are working on an Ebola vaccine. It is a weakened, genetically modified virus to which a surface protein of the Ebola virus has been attached. The researchers hope that the immune system will respond to the modified virus by producing Ebola antibodies.
Image: DW/J.-P. Scholz/A. Kriesch
From Germany to Gabon
Dr. Jose Fernandes is supervising a trial of the new vaccine on a group of 60 healthy volunteers. It is a Phase I trial in which the new substance is tested first of all to see if it is safe. Fernandes broke off his studies in Germany to come to Gabon. "It was a simple decision. Finding a vaccine for this disease is a key challenge for medical science," he said.
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Courageous volunteers
Antoine Maganga Mombo is one of the volunteers. He comes to the research center at least once a month to have a blood test. "Just to check that everything is ok," said the 22-year-old, who otherwise appears untroubled by the prospect of serious side effects. "I can help people in the afflicted areas," he said.
Image: DW/J.-P. Scholz/A. Kriesch
Poverty despite oil reserves
Mombo's family is proud of him. "It requires a lot of courage" said his uncle. For Mombo, the money was also important. He receives 400 euros ($449) for participating in the trial. In spite of Gabon's oil wealth, the majority of residents live in poverty. Mombo makes ends meet by working at gas station.
Image: DW/J.-P. Scholz/A. Kriesch
WHO collecting trial data
Paul Pitzinger is feeding a World Health Organization (WHO) database with information about the health of the volunteers. A medical student from the University of Vienna, Pitzinger is spending several months in Gabon. The WHO correlates the results of the Gabon trial with others that are running in parallel in Europe, the US and elsewhere in Africa.
Image: DW/J.-P. Scholz/A. Kriesch
Vaccine release date uncertain
Phase II trials on the effectiveness of the vaccine with a large number of volunteers are due to start in the afflicted West African countries shortly. Bettram Lell, project coordinator in Lambarene, cannot say when - or if - their vaccine will be approved by regulators. But he's hopeful nonetheless. "Things that normally took years, are now being done in months," he said.
