Rapid drop in the reproduction number during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) experienced a confined rural outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) with 69 reported cases from July to October 2014. Understanding the transmission dynamics during the outbreak can provide important information for anticipating and controlling future EVD epidemics. I fitted an EVD transmission model to previously published data of this outbreak and estimated the basic reproduction number R 0 = 5.2 (95% CI [4.0-6.7]). The model suggests that the net reproduction number Rt fell below unity 28 days (95% CI [25-34] days) after the onset of symptoms in the index case. This study adds to previous epidemiological descriptions of the 2014 EVD outbreak in DRC, and is consistent with the notion that a rapid implementation of control interventions helped reduce further spread.

Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in tree rings show physiological responses of Pericopsis elata to precipitation in the Congo Basin

In equatorial regions, where tree rings are less distinct or even absent, the response of forests to high-frequency climate variability is poorly understood. We measured stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in anatomically distinct, annual growth rings of four Pericopsis elata trees from a plantation in the Congo Basin, to assess their sensitivity to recorded changes in precipitation over the last 50 y. Our results suggest that oxygen isotopes have high common signal strength (EPS = 0.74), and respond to multi-annual precipitation variability at the regional scale, with low δ18O values (28–29‰) during wetter conditions (1960–1970). Conversely, δ13C are mostly related to growth variation, which in a light-demanding species are driven by competition for light. Differences in δ13C values between fast- and slow-growing trees (c. 2‰), result in low common signal strength (EPS = 0.37) and are driven by micro-site conditions rather than by climate. This study highlights the potential for understanding the causes of growth variation in P. elata as well as past hydroclimatic changes, in a climatically complex region characterized by a bimodal distribution in precipitation.

Meine Versuche in der Landwirthschaft in Boma am Congo

von W. Mönkemeyer

La reprise du Congo : rapports

Commission spéciale formée de délégués des trois RR ... établies à la Vall ... de Bruxelles

Die Zukunft des Belgischen Congo : eine Untersuchung der Vorschläge der belgischen Regierung zur Congo-Reform

von E. D. Morel

La conquête de l'Afrique : Allemagne, Angleterre, Congo, Portugal ; ouvrage accompagné d'une carte de l'Afrique équatoriale et australe

par Jean Darcy

Bilans congolais : étude sur la valeur commerciale du Congo par rapport à la Belgique

par Alphonso Poskin

Le Congo belge : notes et impressions

par René Vauthier

Travels in West Africa : Congo Français, Corisco and Cameroons

by Mary H. Kingsley

Guide de la section de l'état indépendant du Congo à l'exposition de Bruxelles-Tervueren en 1897

publ. sous la dir. de Liebrechts. Par les soins du Th. Masui

En faveur du Congo et contre sa reprise immédiate

par Gustave Abel

A travers l'Afrique centrale du Congo au Niger : 1892 - 1893

par C. Maistre

Le Congo : colonie d'exploitation et colonie de peuplement

par A. Prayon-Van Zuylen