WHO head visits Congo’s Bunia amid fast-spreading Ebola outbreak
The head of the World Health Organisation, on Saturday, arrived in eastern Congo’s Bunia, a city at the heart of an outbreak of a rare type of Ebola, where the virus still spreads faster than the response, despite better-organised health facilities and new aid arrivals.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is expected to visit a treatment centre and meet local authorities, health workers and affected families in Bunia.
“The best way to address this is to provide all the necessary support to fight the disease at its epicentre and to continue offering every assistance needed,” Tedros told reporters late Friday.
The WHO said Friday authorities have reported 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths. Neighbouring Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death, the Ugandan Ministry of Health said Friday.
The Bundibugyo virus, the current kind of Ebola, has no approved treatment or vaccine. “This is a difficult situation, and we recognise that. But the Democratic Republic of Congo has faced the Ebola virus many times before. We are confident that it can once again bring this outbreak under control,” Tedros told reporters Friday after meeting with Congo’s Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka.
Medical aid donated by the European Union arrived in Ituri, the heart of Congo’s Ebola outbreak, on Thursday, with more shipments expected over the next eight days.
The US announced $80 million in additional aid on the same day, bringing its total commitment to more than $112 million.
Response efforts at Bunia’s Rwampara and General hospitals appear more organised, with additional staff, protective gear and medical supplies, though patients continue arriving around the clock, an AP reporter observed on Friday.
