The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) learned today, 23 April 2022, through the declaration of the health authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), of the resurgence of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic in this country and more precisely in the province of Equateur, following the confirmation of a deceased case on 21 April 2022, which has generated more than 74 contacts identified to date.

While welcoming the prompt reaction of the health authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a sign of the effectiveness of its surveillance system for diseases with epidemic potential, the ECCAS Commission, through the regional project to strengthen disease surveillance systems in Central Africa (REDISSE IV), is following with the utmost attention this particularly worrying re-emergence of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the region.

The ECCAS Commission assures the Government of the DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC of CONGO of its availability, if necessary, to deploy a multidisciplinary team of experts to support it in setting up a rapid and appropriate response mechanism without delay.

More generally, the recurrent outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) highlights the importance of having solid and interoperable surveillance and response systems in our sub-region through the Programme for Strengthening Regional Epidemic Potential Disease Surveillance Systems (REDISSE), as well as effective inter-country and cross-border collaboration in order to reduce the economic and human costs of epidemics.