WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on June 25 that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is spreading faster than response efforts, and neighboring countries face a high risk of infection.
"We are rapidly scaling up our operations, but right now the outbreak is getting ahead of us," Tedros said during an African Union teleconference on the epidemic, calling on neighboring countries to act immediately.
He also said 220 suspected Ebola deaths have been recorded in the current outbreak. He will travel to the DRC on June 26 alongside Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, WHO's executive director of health emergencies.
Tedros' announcement came as civilian attacks on health facilities in the epicenter, Ituri province, have hampered response efforts. In the town of Mongbwalu, residents attacked the Mongbwalu General Hospital on June 21 and 22.
Dr. Richard Lokodu, the facility's medical director, said 18 Ebola patients fled on June 21 after "unknown individuals" set fire to tents erected by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) for patient isolation.
On June 22, the hospital suffered four attacks by young people mobilized by relatives of a religious leader who died of Ebola. Seven more patients escaped; DRC police and soldiers intervened to restore order. One critically ill patient with hemorrhaging died during the second attack while trying to flee his bed. Attackers demanded the bodies of Ebola victims be returned for burial.
In a similar incident on June 18, a crowd set fire to a treatment center in Rwampara, near Bunia, after authorities refused to hand over the body of a victim for a traditional burial. Burial of bodies can be highly infectious and is usually handled by authorities to control the outbreak. However, some families prefer traditional rites involving washing and touching the body, a major driver of transmission in previous outbreaks.
Earlier this month, Tedros declared the outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern" after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths in the DRC, plus two deaths in neighboring Uganda.
On June 23, Uganda reported two additional Ebola cases, bringing its total to seven. Both new cases were Ugandan health workers at a private health facility in the capital Kampala, according to the Ugandan Ministry of Health.
The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus, for which no approved treatments or vaccines currently exist.
Hotspots include Rwampara, Mongbwalu, Nyakunde, and Bunia in Ituri province, northeastern DRC. This is a commercial and migratory region rich in gold, where conflict between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups over land and minerals has killed more than 50,000 people since 1999. Cases have also been recorded in Butembo and rebel-held Goma in North Kivu province, as well as rebel-held Bukavu in South Kivu.
Tedros said insecurity in Ituri and North Kivu, along with a lack of approved vaccines, makes outbreak control difficult.
(Source: Reuters)
