WHO Worried About ‘Scale, Speed’ of Ebola

The World Health Organisation has expressed alarm over the “scale and speed” of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has killed 136 people, warning the crisis could drag on for months.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of WHO, stated on Tuesday that he was “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic.”

The UN health agency has declared the surge of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever a public health emergency of international concern.

The Bundibugyo strain responsible for the outbreak has no approved vaccine or treatment, setting it apart from previous Ebola crises.

“I don’t think that in two months we will be done with this outbreak,” Anne Ancia, the WHO’s representative in the DRC, said.

Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba told reporters that 136 deaths suspected to be linked to Ebola had been recorded, along with about 543 suspected cases. He called for international aid to help combat the spread.

The epicentre is in the northeastern Ituri province, near the borders with Uganda and South Sudan. The region is a gold-mining hub plagued by years of militia clashes, making access difficult for health workers.

Few samples have been laboratory-tested, with figures based mostly on suspected cases.

At Rwampara hospital, a simple strip of plastic marks the site reserved for receiving patients.

“We dig graves and bury people who died without gloves or any protection. We’re so exposed,” Salama Bamunoba from a local youth organisation told AFP.

“It’s a little tough to get to because it’s in a rural area… and hard-to-get-to place in a war-torn country, unfortunately,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Rubio said Washington had released $13 million in aid to combat Ebola in the DRC, after sweeping US aid cuts last year. He claimed the WHO had been “a little late” in identifying the outbreak.

He added that the United States hoped to open around 50 clinics to treat Ebola in the DRC.

Uganda has recorded two Ebola cases among Congolese nationals who crossed the border, including one death.

Germany is preparing to receive and treat an American doctor who contracted the virus while working for a Christian NGO.

The United States has imposed travel screening for passengers arriving from outbreak zones, suspended visa services, and advised citizens against travel to the DRC, South Sudan and Uganda.

The DRC’s deadliest Ebola outbreak, between 2018 and 2020, claimed nearly 2,300 lives from 3,500 cases. Ebola has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past half-century.