Outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in DRC

10 October 2007

Health workers traveling by boat
WHO/Christopher Black

In mid-September 2007, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in some remote communities in the province of Kasai Occidental. A team of experts from the ministry and WHO quickly launched a disease control campaign. The team included epidemiologists, virologists, logisticians and experts in social mobilization, infection control, medical anthropology and laboratory diagnosis. The team often had to travel by foot and boats to reach these communities.

Their activities included field investigations, disease surveillance, infection control, clinical management, social mobilization and community health education. Expert support came from partners of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and brought together Médecins Sans Frontières-Belgium (MSF), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and teams from the following countries: Canada (Public Health Agency of Canada, PHAC, Winnipeg), France (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and Natural History Museum, Paris), Gabon (Centre International de Recherche Médicale, Franceville), Switzerland (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)/ Hôpital Cantonal, Geneva) and the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, Atlanta, GA).

This photo story documents the work of the international response team of WHO and partner organizations and the challenges they faced.

View the photo story

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