IMPORTANCE OF ONE HEALTH APPROACH IN TACKLING CURRENT EBOLA OUTBREAK IN NORTH KIVU

Ebola virus disease is endemic in DRC and the country has experienced 13 outbreaks since 1976. The war-torn region of eastern DRC has experienced the 10th, 12th Ebola Virus Disease outbreaks and the 13th is going on since October 8th 2021. During all these outbreaks, responses have been facing community resistance due to poor community engagement, one of the main reasons for resistance being the lack of sufficient awareness on the epidemiological dynamics of the virus at the human, animal and environmental interfaces. Also, there is always a lack of One Health approach in sanitary responses to the outbreaks. The event will consist of an awareness-raising campaign on EVD as a One Health issue and advocacy for the urgent need to implement One Health approach in tackling the crisis to avoid the mistakes former responses.