Interventions to control virus transmission during an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever: experience from Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1995.
On 6 May 1995, the Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) coordinator in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), received a request for assistance for what was believed to be a concurrent outbreak of bacillary dysentery and viral hemorrhagic fever (suspected Ebola hemorrhagic fever [EHF]) in the town of Kikwit, DRC. On 11 May, the MSF intervention team assessed Kikwit General Hospital. This initial assessment revealed a nonfunctional isolation ward for suspected EHF cases; a lack of water and electricity; no waste disposal system; and no protective gear for medical staff. The priorities set by MSF were to establish a functional isolation ward to deal with EHF and to distribute protective supplies to individuals who were involved with patient care. Before the intervention, 67 health workers contracted EHF; after the initiation of control measures, just 3 cases were reported among health staff and none among Red Cross volunteers involved in body burial.
Kerstiëns
B
B
Médecins sans Frontières, Brussels, Belgium. bkerstie@jhsph.edu
Matthys
F
F
D002048:Burial; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010356:Patient Isolation; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D012011:Red Cross