Médecins Sans Frontières has deployed a mobile medical team to the Lubero territory of North Kivu to bolster containment measures following the discovery of new Ebola clusters in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The deployment, which targeted the towns of Kayna and Alimbongo on October 6, followed an official alert reporting nine confirmed cases in areas under the control of the AFC/M23 armed group.
The specialized team is working to manage patient care, enforce infection prevention protocols, and conduct direct public health outreach, building on infrastructure established in September when the organization constructed an isolation ward at Kayna General Hospital. Medical personnel face severe operational hurdles, including ongoing regional conflict, movement restrictions that limit local access to essential commodities, and widespread public skepticism regarding the outbreak.
Containment efforts are further complicated by unsafe burial practices and instances of symptomatic individuals refusing institutional isolation. Emphasizing that clear communication is vital to breaking transmission chains, MSF field leaders underlined the urgent necessity of improving team mobility and securing additional logistical resources to respond rapidly to scattered cases across the territory.
TE/Sf/lb/abj/APA