The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed concern yesterday, Tuesday, “about the scope and speed” of the Ebola epidemic spreading in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, warning that it may be long-lasting.
Awaiting the arrival of medical supplies in isolated areas of DR Congo, plagued by violence from armed groups, residents are organizing as best they can, sometimes without “any precautions.”
A Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team in Bunia, capital of Ituri province considered the epidemic’s epicentre, tried to transfer suspected cases to nearby hospitals but all responded: “We are full of suspected cases. We have no more space.”
“This gives us an idea of the current chaotic situation,” stressed Trish Newport, MSF’s emergency program manager.
The Ebola virus causes contagious haemorrhagic fever and has a high mortality rate. But experts consider the risk of a pandemic from this virus, which has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years, to be low, as it is less contagious than measles or covid.
The WHO declared a global health alert on Sunday to deal with this new epidemic.
Yesterday, Tuesday, DR Congo’s health minister Samuel Roger Kaba cited 136 deaths believed to be linked to Ebola and some 543 suspected cases.
So far very few samples have been tested in laboratories and the accounts in DR Congo are mainly based on suspected cases.
“I don’t believe this epidemic will be over in two months,” warned WHO spokeswoman Anne Ancia in DR Congo, recalling that a previous outbreak lasted two years.
“The scale of the epidemic will depend on the speed of our response,” she added, noting that many tons of materials have been sent to the affected areas.
American doctor
Meanwhile a US citizen infected with Ebola in DR Congo is on his way to Germany to receive treatment, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced yesterday.
The patient has been identified by Christian missionary Serge as Dr Peter Stafford. German authorities have already indicated that he will be admitted to the Charite University Hospital in Berlin.
In addition, six other people considered “high-risk contacts” are finalizing plans to travel to Europe, Satis Pillay, the person in charge of Ebola management at the CDC, said.
“The persons are travelling to Europe, including Germany, and will remain quarantined for the time they are under surveillance,” Pillay noted. According to him, one of these people will be taken to the Czech Republic and the rest to Germany.
No protection
At the hospital in Ruabara, one of the epidemic hotspots in Ituri, protection measures are almost non-existent: a simple strip of plastic marks the boundaries of the area designated for the treatment and isolation of Ebola patients, according to an AFP correspondent.
“We dig graves and bury the dead without gloves or any protection. We are completely exposed,” said Salama Bamunoba, a spokesman for a local youth organisation.
“We are already counting about 100 cases,” but “there is no proper place to screen and isolate suspected cases,” a hospital official noted on Monday.
“We are in the process of unloading” the equipment, “we have everything the health care providers will need,” the DR Congo’s health minister assured for his part.
Ituri is a gold-rich province in northeastern DR Congo bordering Uganda and South Sudan and plagued by violence from armed groups who regularly commit massacres.
Two suspicious cases were also reported in Butembo, a major commercial crossroads located in North Kivu province, which borders Ituri, according to Samuel Roger Kaba.
North Kivu province and neighbouring South Kivu province are divided into areas controlled by the DR Congo army and others under the control of the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group. Fighting there was still continuing yesterday, Tuesday, according to local sources.
Congolese doctor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dennis Mukuege yesterday asked M23 to reopen the airport in Goma, the capital of North Kivu, to facilitate the delivery of aid.
The outbreak comes at a time when NGOs are facing a decline in international aid, particularly from the US.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that Washington had released $13 million in aid to fight Ebola in DR Congo, while accusing the WHO of being “somewhat slow” in identifying the outbreak.
“We need international help. The virus affects us all,” Samuel Roger Kaba said.
A World Bank spokesman told AFP that the organisation’s “immediate priority” is “to ensure that funding and technical support can be mobilised quickly to support the response to the outbreak”.
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There is no vaccine
For the strain of the virus responsible for this epidemic, Bundibugyo, there is no vaccine or cure.
Therefore, measures to try to limit its spread are based mainly on adherence to precautionary measures and rapid detection of cases to limit their contact.
The DR Congo authorities said they have implemented enhanced controls at the country’s entry points, although the virus has already crossed the border: one death and one case have been recorded in Uganda. These are two DR Congolese nationals, while no local cases have been reported.
Since yesterday Washington has been “strongly advising” its citizens not to travel to DR Congo, South Sudan or Uganda and Bahrain, and has announced that it will ban travelers from those three countries for a month. The US had announced on Monday that it would step up health checks at its borders for travellers arriving by air from the affected African countries.
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