The head of the World Health Organization visited the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo
Listen to this article
Average 4 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday visited eastern Congo in Bunia, the city at the center of the outbreak of a rare type of Ebola, where the virus is spreading faster than the response despite better organized health centers and new aid arriving.
The director-general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, emphasized the importance of building public trust and ensuring safe burials to prevent the spread of the disease, and urged countries to reconsider travel restrictions and border closures, saying “it discourages transparency.”
“The Democratic Republic of Congo has faced Ebola before, 16 times, and has ended all outbreaks. This is the 17th. That history gives me real confidence,” said Tedros during a press conference with the country’s health minister.
The health organization said on Friday that the latest statistics revealed that there are 906 people who are suspected of death and 223 who are suspected of having died. Neighboring Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death, Uganda’s Ministry of Health said on Friday.
The Bundibugyo virus, the current strain of Ebola, has no approved treatment or vaccine.
The World Health Organization expects Ebola cases to rise, which it considers a public health emergency of global concern, but not a pandemic emergency. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda have both declared outbreaks.
The medical aid donated by the European Union arrived in Bunia, Ituri province, in the country, on Thursday. More shipments are expected in the coming days. The United States announced $80 million in additional aid that day, bringing its commitment to more than $112 million.
Response efforts at Bunia’s Rwampara and General Hospitals appeared to be in order, with additional staff, protective gear and medical supplies – although patients continued to arrive around the clock, according to an Associated Press reporter.
The response is inconsistent with the fastest-growing outbreak in history, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, warned on Saturday.
“It has never happened before that an outbreak of Ebola has recorded so many cases after the announcement,” said Dr. Alan Gonzalez, MSF’s deputy director of operations, in a statement. “No one knows the true extent and severity of this outbreak.”
Gonzalez called for an immediate increase in testing, immediate deployment of aid workers and continued access to medical supplies.
The risks facing health workers have been exacerbated by anger among citizens over strict medical regulations for the handling of dead bodies, which conflict with local burial regulations. Residents have attacked health facilities at least three times.
“We are not here to tell people what to do, we are here to listen,” said Tedros of the WHO on Saturday. “Building trust takes time, and it starts with listening.
“I understand how painful it is to lose someone, and what it means to respect them properly, but certain practices, including touching the corpses of those who have died from Ebola, can spread the virus,” he said.
Dr. Kent Brantly is an American doctor who contracted Ebola 12 years ago in Liberia while caring for patients. He says the location of the outbreak – on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda – makes it difficult to contain it.
Attacks in Ituri by the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group affiliated with the Islamic State group, and a coalition of ethnic militias also hampered the response.
The disease has also been reported in the provinces of Congo, North Kivu and South Kivu, south of Ituri, where the Rwandan-backed rebel group M23 controls many important cities, including Goma and Bukavu. The rebels reported two cases.
Uganda and Rwanda have closed their borders, and the Trump administration last week banned the entry of non-US passport holders who have recently visited Congo, Uganda or South Sudan.
“I will also ask countries that have imposed travel restrictions or border closures to reconsider,” Tedros said, saying the measures “discourage the transparency that saves lives.”
