WHO boss wraps up ‘challenging’ trip to Ebola-hit Congo
The head of the World Health Organization wrapped up a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo by briefing the president on the response to the Ebola outbreak, which one aid agency warned was probably much larger than official figures indicate.
Saying that the epidemic, which is currently the third largest epidemic on record, has continued unnoticed for weeks, health officials say that it is now behind the situation and struggling to control the epidemic.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for more international support to stop the spread of the disease before traveling to Congo’s Ituri province, where the first cases were confirmed.
He said he sees some encouraging signs there, including five certified recoveries, along with the need to increase testing and treatment capacity and increase trust in health care workers.
“This Ebola can be stopped with society taking ownership of the agenda and strong government leadership,” he said after a meeting with President Felix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa.
“We need to strengthen the capacity of health systems in the affected areas.”
Tedros was expected to return to Geneva after meeting with Tshisekedi.
In a joint statement, WHO and Congo’s government acknowledged it was a “challenging period” as health workers scrambled to detect and isolate cases, trace contacts and promote safe burials.
The WHO said Friday there were 906 suspected cases of Ebola in Congo, 223 of which were under investigation. Congo’s government said late Sunday that the number of confirmed cases had risen to 282, with 42 deaths, after 19 new positive test results were recorded.
According to data distributed by the communications ministry, there are 264 confirmed cases in Ituri province, 15 in North Kivu province and three in South Kivu province.
All three states were affected by armed conflict that caused mass displacement and further complicated the Ebola response.
Fifteen civilians and one soldier were killed in an attack in the North Kivu city of Beni over the weekend by fighters of the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group linked to the Islamic State, according to a government statement.
Ebola cases have also been confirmed in neighboring Uganda.
But the International Rescue Committee has warned that the outbreak is likely much larger and more advanced than official figures suggest.
The charity said the virus may have spread for up to three months before the first official cases were detected in mid-May. It was stated that health authorities are struggling to detect and isolate new transmission chains, as only 20 percent of contacts can currently be traced.
“When four in five contacts are not traced, it becomes incredibly difficult to contain the outbreak or even understand its true extent,” said Rachel Howard, the IRC’s senior technical emergency health advisor.
While Congolese officials are well versed in combating Ebola, they have little experience dealing with the Bundibugyo strain of the virus responsible for the current outbreak, for which there is no approved vaccine.
Global health agency CEPI will give about $60 million to Moderna and two other groups to accelerate the development of vaccines against Ebola Bundibugyo.
China said on Monday it would send a team of medical experts to Congo to help with the outbreak.
