WHO's Tedros visits DR Congo as Ebola outbreak accelerates
The head of the World Health Organization warned that "we must urgently and massively scale up all our efforts" against the latest Ebola outbreak, with
The head of the World Health Organization warned that "we must urgently and massively scale up all our efforts" against the latest Ebola outbreak, with new cases doubling in some hotspots in the past week alone. The head of the World Health Organization visited Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on Wednesday, warning that the Ebola outbreak in the east of the country was "spreading faster than our scale-up of the response." The 17th Ebola outbreak in DRC's history is already the fastest-spreading and the second-most deadly outbreak on record. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has now visited twice this summer since the public health emergency, centered in the eastern Ituri province, was first declared in mid-March,. His visit coincided with a health scare in the Maluku municipality in northeastern Kinshasa. A passenger on a crowded ship died with Ebola-like symptoms and authorities were rushing to isolate it and conduct checks. The presence of Ebola was not yet confirmed in the latest scare involving a timber-transporting boat Image: Wendy Bashi/DW DW correspondent Wendy Bashi reported that the boat was mainly transporting timber, but that roughly 200 people were also on board. The barge had come from Kisangani originally, far to the east in DRC.
Bashi reported that the isolation measures were a precaution and that the deceased had not yet been tested for or diagnosed with Ebola. What did Tedros say in Kinshasa? WHO's Tedros said that he was holding meetings with health and humanitarian partners supporting the Ebola response in the DRC to "discuss the challenges we face." He noted new cases were "doubling in some hotspots over the past week alone." "We all agree that we must urgently and massively scale up all our efforts across all pillars of the response and by all partners," he wrote in an online post. "That means reaching every affected community despited insecurity and displacement, strengthening coordination under the Government's leadership, ensuring health workers ahve the protection, training and support they need, and accelerating access to care, surveillance, and safe, dignified burials." He also said it was crucial that communities be "at the center" of the response, saying the outbreak could only be stopped with their "trust, leadership and partnership." What are the latest figures on the DRC Ebola outbreak? According to the most recent data from Congo's Ministry of Health, it had confirmed 3,874 cases, including 1,751 deaths, as of Monday. At least 717 patients were in isolation while 749 patients have recovered.
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