Highlights:
· The Rwanda Ministry of Health as of October 9th is reporting the following:
o There are currently 58 confirmed cases.
o 33 patients are in isolation and receiving treatment.
o 13 people have died.
o 12 people have recovered.
o There have been 2,766 cumulative tests conducted.
o Since the announcement of the outbreak, all new confirmed cases have been within the hospital cluster in Kigali and their contacts, and all are under isolation and receiving treatment. There is no evidence of community transmission.
o The Ministry of Health has established testing labs in each province.
· Vaccination Efforts:
o The Sabin Vaccine Institute as of October 5th has provided Rwanda with 700 doses of an investigational Marburg vaccine earmarked for mainly frontline healthcare workers: The institute has also entered into a clinical trial agreement with Rwanda Biomedical Centre who is sponsoring the Phase 2 rapid response open-label study.
o Additional vaccines will be provided pending a request from Rwandan officials and authorization from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority which is funding the institute’s research and development efforts.
o As of October 6th, there are six mobile clinics deployed throughout the country providing the vaccine.
· The World Health Organization (WHO) has deployed 11 surge experts to provide advice and guidance to the Ministry of Health.
· Travel Updates:
o The Rwandan government is conducting temperature checks and providing hand sanitizing stations at airports and other border crossings:
ü All passengers exiting the country go through a short symptom-screening questionnaire.
o The U.S. State Department has raised the Travel Advisory to Rwanda to Level 3 (Reconsider Travel).
o The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 Travel Advisory.
Sources:
· WHO Rwanda Twitter Page
· Rwanda Ministry of Health Twitter Page
· State Department Consular Affairs Twitter Page
· CDC Twitter Page
· Sabin Vaccine Institute Twitter Page
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