‘We are catching up’ – WHO chief on DR Congo’s Ebola fight

Key points

• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus briefed journalists in Geneva a day after returning from the DRC, where he met a wide range of stakeholders and said he was encouraged by the Government's commitment to combating the deadly epidemic, which has also spread to neighbouring Uganda.
• Tweet URL “What I saw gave me hope,” he said.
• “The outbreak had a big head start, and we’re still behind, but under the leadership of the Government of DRC, we are catching up.” Caseload decrease The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus for which there is no treatment although three vaccines are in development.
• Tedros said 344 cases have been confirmed in the DRC, including 60 deaths.
• Meanwhile, the number of suspected cases has now been reduced from over 1,000 last week to 116 as teams work through the backlog.