The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) Commission is concerned about the emergency situation in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea with the alert given by the authorities following several unexplained deaths in a haemorrhagic fever situation in villages in the KIE NTEM province of Equatorial Guinea. These localities border the health districts of Ambam, Kye-Ossi and OLAMZE in the South Cameroon region and the Woleu-Ntem Province in northern Gabon.

The first results of the laboratory tests revealed that it is Marburg Virus Disease (MVD); a serious and fatal zoonotic haemorrhagic disease in humans, caused by the Marburg virus.

The ECCAS commission commended the prompt reaction of the health authorities of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea for the initial investigations and the alert given, which enabled Cameroon and Gabon to take the necessary preventive measures at the borders,

The ECCAS Commission is following this situation of extreme public health emergency with the utmost attention.

ECCAS Commission recommends the strict application of preventive measures such as avoiding all contact with rodents and primates and limiting direct exposure to blood and meat, and above all, carefully cooking these foods before eating them, wearing gloves and protective equipment to care for the sick and regularly washing hands after caring for them or visiting them.

In view of the very high risk of the disease spreading to Cameroon and Gabon, ECCAS is calling on the countries bordering the outbreak to redouble their efforts to apply preventive measures and actively seek out contacts in order to contain the epidemic, while awaiting more details in the coming days on the evolution of the situation for a more adequate response.

The resurgence of outbreaks of haemorrhagic fever and other public health threats in our common regional space underlines the importance of having a regional early warning mechanism for the integrated surveillance of diseases with epidemic potential, as well as effective inter-country and cross-border collaboration; indispensable for reducing the economic and human costs of epidemics and pandemics.

ECCAS, through the Regional Project for Strengthening Disease Surveillance Systems in Central Africa (REDISSE IV), in collaboration with Africa CDC, is available to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea and the Member States bordering Equatorial Guinea for substantial technical assistance in support of the efforts of health partners.

The Central African Health Organisation (CAHO), whose provisional offices have just been allocated to Malabo, will be called upon to contribute to the strengthening of the regional health security response.

 

Done at Libreville, 16 February 2023