The second Chinese anti-epidemic medical expert team arrived in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on Friday to carry forward international cooperation in Ebola prevention and control.
The DRC reported 1,502 confirmed Ebola cases, including 473 deaths, as the World Health Organization said the outbreak remains serious.
According to the latest situation report released Friday by DRC public health authorities, 628 patients are currently in isolation or hospitalization, with the country recording 229 recoveries. A total of 213 suspected cases, including 63 deaths, have also been reported.
The five-member Chinese medical doctor team is composed of specialists in epidemiology, clinical care and infection prevention and control. They will work alongside Congolese health officials to strengthen surveillance, patient care and outbreak response.
"We'll actively respond to our foreign partners' interest in scientific and technological cooperation, moving institutions on both sides toward signed agreements, so we can offer more public-health products to the international community," said team head Gu Zhiqiang, who is also director of the Division for African Affairs (Foreign Assistance) at the Department of International Cooperation of the National Health Commission.
"Contact tracing has reached only 87.1 percent, leaving a considerable share of close contacts not yet isolated in time. We'll focus on building up diagnostic capacity, above all helping shorten sample testing times and improve the speed and accuracy of lab confirmation, to give outbreak assessment and precise control reliable data support. On that basis, we hope to help improve the management of their biological sample bank and data-sharing mechanisms, strengthening their research reserves and emergency-response capacity to handle future outbreaks on their own," said Su Qiudong, associate research fellow of the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention at Chinese CDC.
This is the second Chinese medical team deployed to the DRC since last month. Their support to the DRC highlights the growing cooperation between China and the DRC, particularly in health.
Luku Maleyo Marius, a representative of the DRC health ministry, welcomed the team at the airport.
"We are very happy to receive this second team of Chinese doctors who will help us deal with the current Ebola outbreak. China has always supported us every time we faced challenges, this is another example of the DRC - China friendship," he said.
The latest mission comes as Ebola cases continue to increase in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, where health authorities are working to contain the outbreak.
The two countries upgraded their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2023, expanding collaboration in sectors including healthcare, trade and mining.
Second batch of Chinese experts arrives in DR Congo to reinforce Ebola response
