2021 Ebola Outbreak tracking – Feb.
As I anticipate the same lack of simple visual status regarding the 12th and potentially 13th ebola virus outbreaks, I started tracking both and created this chart to see the trend.
To find actual initial dates I dug for backdated articles online to get as close a possible the actual dates cases originated. I double checked with the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy data at https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/Node/64 which publishes every time a new case occurs (if errors identified please provide sources for correction). It was a consistent source last time and I will use again.
DRC
North Kivu, a province in the east of the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) saw the conclusion of the 10th ebola outbreak last June, followed by the 11th Ebola outbreak in the DRC I tracked here (https://www.ryancartier.com/blog/2020/11/26/11th-ebola-outbreak-declared-over-nov-18-2020).
Authorities confirmed that the wife of a nEbola survivor had died from the disease in Butembo. It’s still unclear if this is a new outbreak (12th), or a persistent infection linked to the previous epidemic, but more cases have since been detected.
Guinea
A first case was detected in a nurse who died in late January. At least 7 people who attended her funeral have reported symptoms, including 5 people who have died.
The WHO said on Monday that the Zaire strain, which is more deadly but against which vaccines are highly effective, was responsible for the cases in Guinea.
Regarding vaccines, two therapeutics, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics' Ebanga mAB114 and a Regeneron antibody cocktail, will be shipped. Within a short period vaccination programs were initiated.