China has deployed its second team of medical specialists to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to assist with the ongoing Ebola outbreak, with a focus on strengthening virus control cooperation, enhancing local testing capacity and improving response protocols, officials and experts said on Thursday.
The five-member team, comprising experts in laboratory testing and clinical treatment as well as a customs official, departed from Beijing early on Friday.
Gu Zhiqiang, an official with the department of international cooperation at the National Health Commission who leads the team, said the second mission aims to further strengthen collaboration with local institutions, the World Health Organization and other international organizations.
"We aim to gain a closer understanding of how the Ebola outbreak is evolving and the assistance that the DRC has received from the international community," he said.
Gu said Chinese authorities also plan to promote cooperation between Chinese and DRC institutions with the goal of supplying public health products to affected areas.
"Our medical specialists will also help local Chinese-funded enterprises and Chinese communities better implement disease prevention and control measures," he added.
The WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda "a public health emergency of international concern" on May 17. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is currently no targeted vaccine or therapy.
According to government data released on Wednesday, the DRC reported 1,406 confirmed cases, including 438 deaths. Meanwhile, 192 patients have recovered and 609 remain under treatment. Neighboring Uganda reported 20 Ebola cases linked to the DRC outbreak and two deaths by the end of June.
China dispatched its first medical team, also comprising five experts, to assist with the outbreak response on June 2.
Su Qiudong, a researcher specializing in viral diseases at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and a member of the new team, said that since early June, both the number of cases and the mortality rate have been rising, and the virus appeared to be spreading across regions.
"To help bring the outbreak under control, one of our key tasks is to assist local authorities in shortening the turnaround time for diagnostic test results and improving the overall speed and accuracy of testing," he said.
"We also plan to explore the establishment of long-term cooperation mechanisms with local medical institutions, including information sharing and personnel exchanges," he added.
Last month, China released updated guidelines for Ebola diagnosis and treatment, along with revised disease prevention and control protocols. The country has reported no imported or domestically transmitted Ebola cases so far.
Wang Xinyu, deputy head of the department of infectious diseases at Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University in Shanghai and a member of the team, said that while sharing China's experience in tackling infectious diseases, the experts will also gather frontline information to help further improve the country's virus control measures.
Wang stressed that promptly identifying, diagnosing and isolating infected patients remained an essential aspect to containing an acute outbreak.
"For confirmed patients, it is important to provide treatment as early as possible and to mobilize multidisciplinary expert consultations for those in critical condition," he added.
Gu said Chinese authorities will dispatch additional medical experts in the future to support the outbreak response efforts based on evolving needs.
