Health workers carry the coffin for the burial of a person suspected of having died from Ebola in Bunia, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo / AFP
States neighbouring the Democratic Republic of Congo are at great danger from Ebola and should act immediately to counter the deadly virus, the head of the World Health Organisation said.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that he would travel to the DRC, the vast, central African country at the epicentre of the current outbreak.
He said the outbreak was spreading rapidly and was “especially challenging”, adding: “First, the delay in detecting the outbreak means that we are now playing catch-up with a very fast-moving epidemic. We are urgently scaling up operations but at the moment, the epidemic is outpacing us.”
He said the eastern provinces of the DRC, where the outbreak was first detected in mid-May, “are highly insecure, with intensified fighting in recent months and there is also significant distrust of outside authorities among the local population”.
He pointed out that there were “no approved vaccines or therapeutics” for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola behind the current outbreak.
The WHO has recorded 10 confirmed Ebola deaths and 220 suspected deaths in the DRC since mid-May, while also recording a further 900 suspected cases since Kinshasa declared the outbreak on May 15.
The United Nations agency said the true spread of the virus – which experts suspected was circulating under the radar for some time – was probably much wider.
One person is confirmed dead in neighbouring Uganda, with a further eight confirmed infected.
Other African countries were deemed “at risk” of infection, including Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
Insecurity is a huge obstacle in the eastern DRC, which has been plagued for three decades by conflict involving a litany of armed groups.
State services in rural areas of Ituri province have been largely absent for decades. South Kivu province is controlled by the M23 armed group, which has never managed an epidemic like Ebola.
Tedros said it was vital to address the trust deficit in Ebola-affected communities.
A lack of awareness regarding the disease has also been a factor in its rapid spread. Two hospitals in Ituri have been attacked by suspicious locals in the past five days – one in Mongbwala, where the outbreak was initially detected, and the other in Rwampara, where tents used to isolate Ebola patients were burned down.
The violence in Rwampara erupted after a deceased man’s family was prevented from taking his body away for burial because of contamination risks.
Jean Marie Ezadri, a civil society leader in Ituri, said: “Loved ones are throwing themselves at the bodies, touching the corpses ... while organising mourning rituals bringing together loads of people.”
Tedros said the WHO was pouring money, medical supplies and staff into the DRC to support locals authorities, but added ominously: “It will get worse before it gets better.”
- AFP