Fantastic news. @DrMikeRyan from @WHO spoke this morning of significant progress in DRC, and expresses gratitude and hope that the world is getting on top of this virus.
Ebola is still transmitting but is now cornered in a smaller geographic area.
Lots of hard work getting to this point with Ebola. @DrMikeRyan says “I do think that vaccination has had a major impact on the dynamics of the epidemic”.
Another factor is the availability of treatment. Knowledge of the new treatments means that patients are much more likely to present themselves for care. If they do they are much more likely to survive too...
Inside Ebola Treatment Units the case fatality rate is only 1/3, outside it is 2/3 says @DrMikeRyan
The security situation has not improved. It is as bad, if not worse. However, there are decreasing tensions from the community itself. There are also 1,000 Ebola survivors who are being followed and supported, and who are spreading the message about vaccination and treatment.
And @DrMikeRyan also mentions the increase in increase skill of response workers over last year, from burial teams to nurses. The skill and the capacity of the Congolese workers has shown remarkable advances.
Not possible to say the outbreak is over... “now we have to kill the virus” and it is in ADF areas (groups that have been making attacks). @DrMikeRyan will not make predictions on when it is over. “We are on the somewhat bumpy road to zero”.
J&J vaccine to be rolled out soon in Goma and may provide a firewall against Ebola. Messaging to locals is that J&J is preventative vaccine, while the Merck vaccine is used in outbreak areas for rapid response and containment — as it takes only one dose & works faster.
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