WHO Chief Visits Epicenter Of Ebola Outbreak As Virus Spreads Faster Than The Response

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization visited the eastern Congo city of Bunia on Saturday. outbreak of a rare strain of EbolaDespite better organized health facilities and new aid, the virus is spreading faster than the response.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus He emphasized the importance of building community trust, ensuring safe burials to prevent the spread of the epidemic, and called on countries to reconsider travel bans and border closures, saying these “impede transparency”.

“The Democratic Republic of Congo has encountered Ebola 16 times before and has stopped all outbreaks. This is the 17th. This history gives me real confidence,” Tedros said at a press conference held with Congo’s health minister on Saturday.

The latest official figures show 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths, the health agency said on Friday. Nine cases and one death have been confirmed in neighboring Uganda, Uganda’s Ministry of Health said on Friday.

Bundibugyo virusThe current strain of Ebola has no approved treatment or vaccine.

Medical aid donated by the European Union arrived on Thursday in Bunia, Ituri province. More shipments are expected in the coming days. The US announced additional aid of $80 million on the same day, bringing its total commitment to over $112 million.

According to an Associated Press reporter, response efforts at Rwampara and General hospitals in Bunia appeared to be more organized with additional staff, protective gear and medical supplies; but patients continue to come at all hours of the day.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned on Saturday that the response had failed to keep pace with one of the fastest-spreading outbreaks on record.

MSF’s deputy director of operations, Dr. “Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration,” Alan Gonzalez said in a statement. “No one knows the true extent and severity of this epidemic.”

Gonzalez called for immediate expansion of testing, faster deployment of aid workers and continued access to medical supplies.

dangers encountered Anger at healthcare workers was further fueled among residents over the strict medical protocols applied to the victims’ bodies, which conflicted with local burial rites. Neighborhood residents at least took action three attacks against health centers

“We’re not here to tell people what to do, we’re here to listen,” Tedros said Saturday. “Building trust takes time and starts with listening.”

“I understand how painful it is to lose someone and how important it is to honor them properly, but some practices, including touching the bodies of those who have died from Ebola, can further spread the virus,” Tedros said.

Attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group allied with the Islamic State group, and a coalition of ethnic militias in Ituri also hampered the response. The disease has also been reported in Congo’s North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, south of Ituri, where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group controls several key cities, including Goma and Bukavu. Rebels reported two cases.

While Uganda and Rwanda have closed their borders, the Trump administration last week banned non-U.S. passport holders who have recently visited Congo, Uganda or South Sudan from entering the country.

“I would also ask countries that have imposed travel bans or closed borders to reconsider,” Tedros said, saying such measures “discourage life-saving transparency.”

Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Saleh Mwanamilongo in Bonn, Germany, contributed to this report.