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Brief history of Ebola outbreaks and MSF’s responses

Ebola first appeared in 1976 in simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara of Sudan and in Yambuku of Zaire (currently Democratic Republic of Congo). The latter was in a village situated near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name. Since then, 41 known outbreaks have been recorded.

MSF has intervened in almost all reported outbreaks since the mid-1990s. From Ebola’s discovery in 1976 until 2014, most outbreaks were in isolated rural areas with fewer than 100 cases.

The 2014-2016 West African epidemic reached urban areas and killed over 11,300 people, and MSF launched one of the largest emergency operations in its 44-year history. At the peak of the epidemic, MSF employed nearly 4,000 national staff and more than 325 international staff. MSF admitted 10,310 patients to its Ebola management centres of which 5,201 were confirmed Ebola cases, representing one-third of all WHO-confirmed cases.

The Ebola epidemic in Equateur province declared on 8 May 2018 came to an end on 24 July, 38 confirmed cases and 17 deaths were recorded. It was the 9th outbreak in the country’s history.

Just days after, the 10th Ebola outbreak of the country was declared in North Kivu province on 1 August 2018. This outbreak in the northeast of DRC has recorded a total of 3,317 patients and 2,287 deaths. It lasted for 11 months and ended in 25 June 2020. It is known as the second-biggest Ebola epidemic ever recorded, behind the West Africa outbreak of 2014-2016.

Meanwhile, the disease is back to the Equateur province only less than two years since the 9th outbreak ended. DRC declared its 11th Ebola outbreak last June 2020.. As of 25 June 2020, there were 25 confirmed cases and 13 deaths.

MSF has been working with the country’s Ministry of Health in responding to all these three Ebola outbreaks.

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