The Ebola outbreak in central Africa has had a “big head-start” and health authorities are still behind the virus, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a Geneva press conference on Wednesday, days after returning from the epicentre of the outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Tedros, who visited Ituri Province as part of a four-day mission, said responders were “catching up” and that he was “very encouraged by the level of commitment I saw everywhere I went.” He added that the virus was still ahead and “we need to move faster,” DW reported.
DR Congo has confirmed 344 cases since the outbreak began in mid-May, with 60 deaths, the WHO chief said. The number of suspected cases stands at 166, down from a peak of 906 — a sign that improved testing capacity is reclassifying earlier suspected cases as confirmed or excluded. The virus is also present in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and has crossed into neighbouring Uganda.
The outbreak is driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no licensed vaccine or treatment. Researchers are working to develop a cure and accelerate diagnostic capacity, while health teams continue to isolate contacts in affected districts. The Bundibugyo strain prompted the WHO to declare a public health emergency of international concern on May 17, and last week three institutions — IAVI, Moderna and Oxford — began work on candidate vaccines targeting the strain.
The outbreak has also opened a political fault line in east Africa. Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale told parliament on Wednesday that a US-funded quarantine facility at the Laikipia airbase, intended to isolate Americans returning from DR Congo, would proceed despite a Kenyan court order blocking the project and street protests against what critics call a foreign-imposed installation. “Quarantine is not only for Americans. Even Kenyans will be isolated at the facility,” Duale said, calling Laikipia “one of the 23 quarantine isolation centres we are building.”
The US Embassy in Nairobi said it was “working with the Kenyan government to resolve any objections” raised by the court ruling. Reuters reported that at least 20 flights had landed at the base carrying US medical specialists, physicians, engineers, lab experts and construction workers, though no patients have been admitted. Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry continues to operate under a five-point preparedness plan announced after the WHO emergency declaration last month.
