GENEVA: The countries neighboring the Democratic Republic of Congo are at high risk from Ebola and should act immediately to counter the virus, the head of the World Health Organization said on Monday.
He said that the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda was outpacing response efforts, giving the latest number of suspected deaths as 220.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Earlier on Monday Uganda reported two more Ebola cases, taking its total number of confirmed cases to seven.
The WHO has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health emergency of international concern.
The attacks recall the widespread violence targeting health facilities during a 2018-2020 outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that killed more than 25 health workers.
GENEVA: The countries neighboring the Democratic Republic of Congo are at high risk from Ebola and should act immediately to counter the virus, the head of the World Health Organization said on Monday.
“Countries bordering DRC are at especially high risk and should take immediate action,” said WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that he would travel on Tuesday to the DRC, the epicenter of the current outbreak of the deadly disease.
He said that the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda was outpacing response efforts, giving the latest number of suspected deaths as 220.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (AFP)
Addressing an online meeting of the African Union about the outbreak, the director general said a delay in detecting Ebola cases meant responders were now “playing catch-up” and the epidemic was likely to get worse before it gets better.
Earlier on Monday Uganda reported two more Ebola cases, taking its total number of confirmed cases to seven. The WHO has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health emergency of international concern.
Tedros said containing the fast-moving outbreak was complicated by the fact that Congo’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces were highly insecure, and there were no approved vaccines for the Bundibugyo virus.
Doctors operating on the front lines of the fight against Ebola in Congo, already grappling with shortages of basic supplies, are now also having to deal with attacks on their facilities and fleeing patients as the virus spreads rapidly.
At least three such incidents have occurred in the northeastern province of Ituri, where the first Ebola cases were reported, including two at the weekend targeting the same hospital that permitted more than two dozen patients to run away.
The attacks recall the widespread violence targeting health facilities during a 2018-2020 outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that killed more than 25 health workers.
Some were perpetrated by civilians who were angry about not being able to bury their loved ones or were convinced that the outbreak was a hoax.
The influx of money and manpower into an area that had felt neglected during decades of conflict and humanitarian crisis has spurred local suspicions about the real motives for the sudden spike of interest.
A similar dynamic seems to be playing out now, said Dr. Richard Lokodu, medical director of the Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, which came under attack first on Saturday and again on Sunday.
“There is denial of the disease within the population, with some members wanting to claim the bodies of suspected and/or confirmed cases,” he said.
