Tedros Ghebreyesus, director-general (DG) of the World Health Organisation (WHO), says 101 cases of Ebola, including 10 deaths have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In an X post on Monday, the WHO DG said, “there are now more
than 900 suspected cases and 220 suspected deaths” in the country, adding that
“the epidemic in the DRC is much larger.”
He said the ongoing violence and humanitarian challenges in
DR Congo are hampering and worsening efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak.
Ghebreyesus said the national risk level in the DR Congo had
been raised to “very high” because of rapid transmission and the absence of
approved vaccines or therapeutics for the Bundibugyo strain.
He stressed that the WHO is finalising a multi-agency
strategic preparedness and response plan aligned with national response plans
for the DRC and Uganda while expanding contact tracing, treatment centres,
laboratory capacity, and community engagement.
The WHO DG said Uganda has reported two additional confirmed
cases among healthcare workers, increasing the total of confirmed cases to
seven, including one confirmed death.
Ghebreyesus added that WHO would continue to scale up the
response with its partners, noting that more cases are expected to be
identified in the coming days and weeks.
“The sooner we can trace people with infections and identify
their contacts, the sooner we can provide the care they need and bring this
outbreak under control,” he said.
Meanwhile, Roger Kamba, the DR Congo’s minister of health,
had said insecurity and laboratory limitations complicated the response to the
Ebola virus during the early phase of the outbreak.
Speaking at a media briefing after a high-level ministerial
cross-border coordination meeting convened in Kampala on Saturday, Kamba said
the country’s delay in response to Ebola was because the laboratory in Bunia
could not detect the Bundibugyo strain, and it was necessary to send the
samples to Kinshasa.
Kamba noted that the DRC government is engaging diplomatic
and mediation channels, including international partners, to facilitate access
and coordination in areas under control of the M23, an armed terrorist group,
so that Ebola response activities could continue across affected regions.
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