In 2019, a

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

epidemic broke out in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(DRC). The epidemic started in early 2019 in the southeast corner of the DRC and then spread to all provinces. By June 2019 the epidemic was reported to have exceeded the death toll of the concurrent Ebola epidemic. By April 2020, it had infected more than 341,000 people and claimed about 6,400 fatalities. This has primarily affected children under the age of five, representing 74% of infections and nearly 90% of deaths.

Response

In response, a vaccination program had been set up by the Ministry of Public Health with the aim to vaccinate more than 20 million children under the age of five. In 2018, the measles vaccination rate was 57%. The effort is supported by the Measles & Rubella Initiative, the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...

, and

GAVI GAVI, officially Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (previously the GAVI Alliance, and before that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) is a public–private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunization ...

, a vaccine alliance. Also,

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. ...

started conducting vaccination campaigns. Vaccination programs have been hampered by access to health resources, lack of resources, security issues, and mistrust. The measles outbreak in the DRC has been the largest and most fatal measles outbreak across the world in 2019. In April 2020, it was reported that due to the outbreak of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the vaccination program for measles was suspended. On 24 August 2020, the outbreak was declared over with final results of over 380,766 cases and 7,018 deaths.

2021 Flare-up

By April 2021

Doctors without Borders Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

had reported on more than 13,000 new cases in several provinces of the DRC since the beginning of the year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-2020 measles outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Disease outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

Response

2021 Flare-up

See also

References