Largest measles outbreak: MSF intervenes in Kongo Central

The current measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the world largest and the biggest recorded in the country for years. It has been spreading out throughout the 26 provinces of DRC affecting more than 297,000 people and causing more than 5,800 deaths by the end of December 2019. Those represent only the reported cases which, according to an Epicentre survey, underestimate the real number of affected people. In 2019, MSF intervened in several part of the countries providing medical care for measles patient and leading measles vaccination campaign.

Since late November 2019, MSF teams started to treat measles patients in Kongo Central Province, located 8 hours driving south-west of Kinshasa. At the end of December they were treating patients in 3 health zones: Matadi, Muanda and Nsona Mpangu and they were planning to open projects in 2 other zones: Seke Banza and Kimpese.

MSF teams face very different challenges in the three locations.
Matadi is a city of approximately 270 000 inhabitants and hosts the biggest port of the country. As a consequence, Matadi streets are full of trucks conveying containers and creating major traffic jams. Muanda is a balnear city cut from the other parts of DRC by sandy roads transformed in muddy roads during rainy season. Some of the health area MSF support are barely inaccessible. Songololo, the city where the teams run the measles treatment center in Nsona Mpangu health zone, is cut from both electricity and water.

In each health zone, the team runs a measles treatment center in collaboration with the MoH. Moreover, the MSF nurse supervisor ensure that the “infirmiers titulaires” in each health zone are aware of the services offered by MSF, that they collect the data necessary to monitor the evolution of the epidemic, they provide kits to treat simple cases of measles and recall that the references for complicated cases must be made to the CTR operated by MSF teams.

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