The WHO Director-General declared a public health emergency of international concern last week over the outbreak of a disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Bundibugyo is a rare strain of the Ebola virus for which no licensed vaccine or treatment is currently available.
The WHO Office in Vietnam is supporting the Ministry of Health by providing updated outbreak information and technical guidance on surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing, clinical management, infection prevention and control, risk communication, travel and border control, and emergency response.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has stepped up public communication efforts to provide official information about the disease and how to prevent and control it.
According to the WHO, as of Thuraday, 85 confirmed cases had been reported in the two countries, including two in Uganda, with 10 confirmed deaths. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 746 suspected cases and 176 suspected deaths had been recorded.
