KEY UPDATES
Angola epidemiological update (as of 11 August):
o There have been no new confirmed cases since 23 June;
o 3922 suspected cases, with 369 deaths (Case fatality rate: 9.4%);
o 879 of 3922 suspected cases have been laboratory confirmed, with 119 deaths amongst confirmed cases (CFR: 13.5%);
o 16 of 18 provinces have reported at least one confirmed case, with local transmission.Mass reactive vaccination campaigns in Angola have been implemented in areas with confirmed local transmission Fig 4). In addition, a preventive vaccination campaign targeting approximately three million people in phase I and additional two million people in phase II, was launched on 15 August. The initial phase of the campaign aims to immunize at-risk populations in 22 districts, 17 of which are on, or close to Angola’s border with The Democratic Republic of The Congo (DRC), Namibia, and Republic of Congo. As of 18 August 922 177 people had been vaccinated — 31% of the target population for phase I campaign.
DRC epidemiological update (as of 18 August):
o 2357 suspected cases from seven of 26 Provinces;
o 73 confirmed cases* have been identified from 1956 suspected cases that have been laboratory tested, with 16 deaths (CFR: 21.9%)(Table 1);
o Of the 73 confirmed cases:
• 56 acquired infection in Angola,
• 13 are autochthonous
• 3 are cases of sylvatic1 transmission (not related to the outbreak),
• One remains under investigation.A preventive vaccination campaign was launched in DRC on 17 August. The campaign aims to immunize over 8 million people in 32 Health Zones in Kinshasa province, and an additional 3 million people in 16 Health Zones on or near the border with Angola. The vaccination campaign in Kinshasa will use the fractionate dose strategy, which is administered at one-fifth of the standard vaccine dose, and is only recommended for use in an emergency situation in the context of limited vaccine availability.
ANALYSIS
- The overall risk assessment remains unchanged.
- Concurrent and pre-emptive mass vaccination campaigns currently underway in both Angola and DRC represent an opportunity to bring this longstanding outbreak to a close. However, given the significant operational challenges associated with such large campaigns in often very remote areas, the risk remain high.
- Vaccine stocks are adequate to complete all planned vaccination campaigns and leave sufficient stock to respond to additional cases and/or outbreaks in other countries, should they arise.