Forty Ebola Case Contacts Have Been "Lost To Follow Up" -- In The DRC As Of October 7, 2018

In addition, 180 of the known contacts in Beni (a city of over one million) have not been seen -- which means they are unvaccinated, as well.

To be clear, here -- the more ominous risk is the 40 who are entirely off grid -- with new cases appearing in Beni by the day -- some without any known relationship to any already known chain(s).

As I said before -- that means there are likely completely untracked chains of transmission -- on the loose, in a city of over one million souls. Here is the latest, from WHO, and a salient bit:

. . . .As of 7 October 2018, a total of 2115 contacts were being monitored, and on this date, 2013 (91%) were seen. Two hundred and two (202) contacts were not seen, of which 180 (89%) were registered in Beni. A total of 175 new contacts were identified and enrolled in Beni (99), Masereka (65) and Butembo (11). Forty (40) contacts were classified as ‘lost to follow up’, including 37 in Beni, two in Tchomia and one in Komanda. . .

Now you know. This has the real potential to become a frighteningly urban epidemic, with more than a 60 per cent fatality rate, in DRC and neighboring Uganda. We will keep you informed. I'm off, now -- until mid next week.

नमस्ते