The head of the World Health Organization warned on Monday (May 25) that the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is outpacing response efforts, putting the latest number of suspected deaths at 220.
Addressing an online meeting of the African Union, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a delay in detecting cases meant responders were now “playing catch-up,” and that the epidemic was “likely to get worse before it gets better.”
Tedros said he would travel to Congo — the epicentre of the outbreak — on Tuesday, accompanied by Chikwe Ihekweazu, a senior WHO official responsible for health emergencies. Earlier on Monday, neighbouring Uganda reported two more cases, taking its confirmed total to seven. Tedros said other countries bordering Congo were at high risk and should take immediate action.
The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which the WHO has declared a public health emergency of international concern. Containment is complicated by the fact that Congo’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces are highly insecure and there is no approved vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus.
The 220 figure marks a sharp escalation from the 139 deaths the WHO reported a week earlier; Congolese authorities had counted 159 fatalities when an angry crowd burned isolation tents at a hospital near Bunia in a dispute over a body. Sri Lanka has maintained a five-point preparedness plan since the emergency was declared.
Source: Ada Derana (Reuters).
