The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has the highest reported incidence of cholera in the world, witnessing 5-14% of global cases each year. Although cases have been endemic in certain regions since the 1970s, recent outbreaks and new hotspots have been associated with increasing population density, migration, and interruptions to the water supply. Additionally, Typhoid Fever (TF) cases in DRC are also of great concern, with up to 50% of TF cases classified as multi-drug resistant (MDR) and 72% of cases found in children under ten. Frequent misdiagnosis of TF due to similarity in symptoms to other infectious diseases often leads to underreporting across the healthcare system.
CDC and its global partners work to prevent and control disease and deaths attributed to waterborne transmitted infections. CDC is a founding and core member of the Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC), which supports the implementation of the “Ending Cholera: Global Roadmap to 2030”. This roadmap seeks to reduce cholera deaths and eliminate the disease from 20 countries by 2030, for which DRC is a focal country. To implement these strategies effectively, CDC has coordinated a response from the Emergency Response and Recovery Branch (ERRB) and the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases (DFWED).
Integral Global Consulting (IGC) provides the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s DRC Country Office; DWED; and ERRB with technical subject matter expertise for waterborne disease surveillance and program management activities. The expanded reach of IGC personnel allows for the implementation of CDC’s Global Health security priorities, including those for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), global immunization, cholera, and typhoid fever. IGC’s specialists offer oversight and direct implementation of surveillance, case management, laboratory capacity, and WASH activities to prevent and control waterborne diseases with epidemic potential at the local and national level. IGC’s Waterborne Disease Surveillance Specialist- WASH works to advise CDC partners implementing cholera prevention and control activities in North and South Kivu. At the national level, IGC’s Waterborne Disease Surveillance Specialist works with partners in Kinshasa to provide technical assistance in typhoid prevention and control measures and laboratory strengthening for earlier detection of enteric disease outbreaks.
Additional activities led by IGC include providing technical input in the creation of CDC and country-wide enteric disease strategies, leading technical trainings, participation in stakeholder meetings, and provide direct technical expertise to advise in the implementation of activities. IGC personnel work directly with the National Program for the Elimination of Cholera and the Control of Other Diarrheal Diseases, Ministry of Health, the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB), and other CDC implementing partners in DRC.
