DR Congo: End of meningitis epidemic in northeastern province after 3 months

The meningitis epidemic that broke out in northeastern Congo in September and claimed the lives of 205 people has “officially ended”, the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa branch said yesterday.

“A total of 2,662 cases and 205 deaths were recorded” during the epidemic, which was declared on September 7 in Tsopo province, the WHO said in a statement.

“Meningitis can cause catastrophic epidemics. It strikes quickly and is deadly,” said Macidisso Moeti, director of the WHO branch in charge of the African continent.

“Ending this epidemic in difficult circumstances, and in the midst of the new coronavirus pandemic, is a huge achievement by the national authorities and citizens” of the DRC, she said, adding that “we need to invest more to identify, to to prevent and deal with the horrific consequences of this disease. ”

According to the WHO, the meningitis epidemic broke out in June at two open-pit mines in the Banalia Health Zone, 227 kilometers north of Chisangani, the capital of Chopo.

Provincial health authorities sounded the alarm for the first time after an increase in the number of deaths of people with symptoms such as “fever, headache, cervical stiffness, and bloody diarrhea in some cases,” he explained.

Chopo Province is located in the African meningitis zone, which stretches across the continent, from Senegal to Ethiopia, and includes 26 countries. This zone is the most vulnerable to recurring epidemics, according to the WHO.

In the past, several meningitis outbreaks have been reported in the DRC provinces. In 2009, an outbreak in Kisangani killed 15 people in a total of 214 cases.

Source: AMPE