South Sudan: Ebola Preparedness (July 2019)

Press Release 

From United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Dated 01 August 2019

South Sudan: Ebola Preparedness Dashboard (July 2019)

SITUATION UPDATE

At the end of July a total of 2,699 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases had been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with 1,782 deaths (case fatality rate of 67 per cent). 

The risk of EVD spreading to South Sudan remained very high but there were no confirmed cases. 

Eleven alerts were reported and verified during the month, with results of laboratory testing using GeneXpert available within 48 hours.

Progress towards targets under the National EVD Preparedness Plan continued. 

The number of border points of entry providing screening reached 32, with over 304,000 primary screenings and over 300 secondary screenings conducted. 

Some 180 frontline workers from 8 organisations across the Yei area were vaccinated.

Preventive messages were broadcast through more than 2,300 radio spots, while over 400 key community influencers were engaged. 

The number of trained and equipped safe and dignified burial teams increased to 13. 

While additional funding contributions were under consideration, preparedness efforts remained underfunded with U$10.7 million still to be secured against planned requirements.

INFOGRAPHIC

from World Health Organization, Government of the Republic of South Sudan

Published on 23 Aug 2019 —

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SOURCE:https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/south-sudan/infographic/south-sudan-ebola-preparedness-dashboard-july-2019

South Sudan: On alert for Ebola virus

Article from Voice of America News.com

By DIMO SILVA AURELIO 

Dated 4 July 2019

South Sudan on High Alert for Ebola Virus

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN - South Sudan’s health officials are ramping up efforts to prevent the deadly Ebola virus from entering the country following a confirmed case some 70 kilometers from the border, in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dr. Pinyi Nyimol, South Sudan's director general for disease control and emergency response services, said the health ministry has sent seven personnel to the Yei River state, which borders Congo. "The aim is to strengthen the surveillance and preparedness for Ebola,” Nyimol told VOA's South Sudan in Focus.

“We are more worried because it is coming nearer because people are moving, so anybody, a contact can cross to South Sudan and the only thing we can do is to enhance our surveillance and screening and also to alert our health care workers about this and anybody coming, they have to start with traveling history and ask whether this person has been in DRC or not,” Nyimol said.

Photo: Ebola case reported not far from South Sudan border. Authorities have confirmed an Ebola case just 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Congo's border with South Sudan

The case was registered Tuesday in Ariwara, a trading center. The person, a 40-year-old woman, had traveled some 500 kilometers from Beni, in Congo's North Kivu province, according to Congolese officials.

North Kivu is an epicenter of the Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 1,500 people.  

Nyimol says it is the first confirmed case close to the South Sudan-DRC border since the outbreak erupted last August in eastern Congo.

He said for the last six months, South Sudan has been under high alert and increased its surveillance response at several border screening centers.

“We have points of entry doing screening at the high-risk states, we have Ebola treatment unit here in Juba and there is a laboratory and we have an ambulance ready for any suspect and there are trained staff and if there is a suspected case at Juba International Airport, it can be collected and taken for investigation; the same [is true] at the Juba Nimule border entry,” said Nyimol.

A number of people from the DRC cross into South Sudan’s Yei River State on a daily basis, according to South Sudanese health officials.

The Ebola virus is a deadly disease that affects humans and non-human primates.  Symptoms include unexplained bleeding, high fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, and vomiting. The virus is spread through body fluids, such as the blood of an infected person.

SOURCE: https://www.voanews.com/africa/south-sudan-focus/south-sudan-high-alert-ebola-virus