The Democratic Republic of the Congo has declared an outbreak of meningitis. Approximately 261 cases have been reported in the Tshopo Province where there have also been 129 deaths, meaning the bacterial infection has a 50 percent case fatality rate or case fatality ratio. An initial emergency team has now been dispatched to the region and will be supported by the WHO.

       Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, warned meningitis is a serious infection.

       She added: "Meningitis is a serious infection and a major public health challenge.

       "We are moving fast, delivering medicines and deploying experts to support the government’s efforts to bring the outbreak under control in the shortest possible time."

       Benalia is the centre of the outbreak in the Congo.

       However, the Tshopo province lies in the so-called African meningitis belt, which runs across the continent from Senegal to Ethiopia.

       More than 100 patients are receiving treatment in the community.

       Dr Amédée Prosper Djiguimdé, WHO Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo said: “We are scaling up control measures within the community and rapidly investigating suspected cases in surrounding localities to treat patients and curb potentially widespread infections."

       The WHO has dispatched supplies and experts to Banalia to stop the outbreak.

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       Confirmatory tests carried out by the Pasteur Institute in Paris detected Neisseria meningitidis, which is one of the most frequent types of the bacteria.

       This bacterial strain has the ability to cause large epidemics.

       It is potentially fatal and needs rapid treatment.

       While people of all ages can catch meningitis, it mainly affects babies, children and young people.

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       If untreated, meningitis can cause septicemia and can result in permanent damage to the brain or nerves.

       Symptoms of the infection can range from a high temperature to seizures or being sick.

       In 2016, 1.6 million people aged between one to 29 were vaccinated in Tshopo.

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       In 2009, a separate outbreak in Kisangani infected 214 people and caused 15 deaths.

       In November 2020, the World Health Assembly approved a roadmap for a meningitis-free world by 2030.

       The three key objectives are: elimination of bacterial meningitis, reduction of vaccine-preventable bacterial meningitis by 50 percent and deaths by 70 percent, as well as reduction of disability and improvement of quality of life after meningitis.