On 16 August 2018, residents and graduates from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FETP) and the Central African Republic FETP were deployed to Beni, which is located in the north eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, lying immediately west of the Virunga National Park and the Rwenzori Mountains, on the edge of the Ituri Forest. Since the declaration of the Ebola epidemic on Wednesday, 1 August 2018, several rapid response teams from the Ministry of Health have been sent to the city of Beni and the health zone of Mangina.

The DRC FETP coordinated the deployment of 29 DRC and CA FETP residents and graduates to support the following:

1. Screening of the contact’s and case Data base
2. Harmonization of list of candidate to Vaccination
3. Supervision of contact tracing
4. Investigation of Alerts
5. Support to the Laboratory team
6. Surveillance at Points of Entry such as border points near Uganda
7. Support to Laboratory Analysis
8. Surveillance and contact tracing

The residents were attached to Mangina referral health centre, which is more than 30 kilometres southwest of the town of Beni in North Kivu. The Mangina referral health center is the epicenter of the current epidemic of Ebola. Residents were deployed to conduct contact tracing, surveillance and data management

On 18 August 2018, the Ministry of Health recorded in the DRC EVD Outbreak: a total of 91 cases/50 deaths of the haemorrhagic fever in Beni: 64 confirmed cases, (including 23 death) and 27 probables cases. The probable case category includes all reported deaths for which it was not possible to obtain biological samples for laboratory confirmation. The investigations will determine whether these deaths are related to the epidemic or not.)

A total of 12 suspected cases were under investigation (8 new suspects and 4 old cases)

 Number of EVD Cases in Beni, Mangina by 18 August 2019

DRC FETP residents and graduates deployed to the EVD response in Beni