From 27 January to 2 February 2020, six new confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) were reported in Beni and Mabalako Health Zones, North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Among these six cases, five were registered as contacts with known epidemiological links, including two cases under surveillance at the time of detection.

In the past 21 days (13 January to 2 February 2020), 25 new confirmed cases were reported from five of the 30 health areas in two active health zones in North Kivu Province: Beni (72%; n=18) and Mabalako (28%; n=7) Health Zones. As of 2 February 2020, 27 health zones did not report new confirmed cases for more than 21 days, including Musienene Health Zone in North Kivu Province, which marked 22 days. No new cases were reported from Ituri Province in the past 21 days.

In the past 21 days, between four to 15 new cases were reported per week from two health zones. Although the small number of weekly cases and limited geographic area affected by EVD are encouraging, continuous vigilance for contact identification and follow up is essential to interrupt possible nosocomial transmission linked to traditional practitioner facilities, which is currently the major driver of the outbreak. On 31 January 2020, 10 weeks after the fatal attacks on the response teams, there was another attack on an office in Biakato, Mandima Health Zone. No response personnel were injured. This volatile security situation prevents response teams from conducting their day to day operations.

As of 2 February 2020, a total of 3428 EVD cases, including 3305 confirmed and 123 probable cases have been reported, of which 2250 cases died (overall case fatality ratio 66%). Of the total confirmed and probable cases, 56% (1920) were female, 28% (966) were children aged less than 18 years, and 5% (172) were healthcare workers.Please click here to download the complete situation report (PDF).