The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri province on Saturday, the epicentre of the ongoing Ebola outbreak. He urged the international community to increase its support to combat the spread of the deadly virus.
Call for International Help
Tedros told reporters in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, that while the international community is already assisting the DRC government in managing the outbreak, additional efforts are needed. He emphasized the importance of "community ownership" to overcome mistrust and misinformation, as well as greater financial aid from other nations.
"We are here to discuss with the community, to see how the response is running and if there are challenges to help," Tedros said. At a press conference later, he addressed the people of Ituri: "You're not alone in this. We're here, we're with you, and we will see this through together."
Outbreak Statistics
The highly contagious haemorrhagic fever has spread across three eastern DRC provinces and into neighbouring Uganda. According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Thursday, there have been at least 1,077 suspected cases of Ebola in the DRC since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including 246 deaths. In Uganda, there have been nine confirmed infections and one death. The WHO has warned that the true scale of the outbreak in the DRC, which likely began circulating before it was detected, may be much larger.
Challenges in Conflict Zones
The vast, impoverished central African country, whose mineral-rich east has been plagued by three decades of conflict, has limited capacity to conduct laboratory tests to confirm cases. Uganda closed its border with the DRC this week and imposed a 21-day quarantine for anyone arriving from the country.
On Friday, the WHO announced that a patient had recovered and was discharged after two negative tests. WHO's Anais Legand described this as a "first" among confirmed Ebola carriers in the current outbreak. Ebola, which spreads through close contact and bodily fluids, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years. The deadliest outbreak in the DRC claimed nearly 2,300 lives out of 3,500 cases between 2018 and 2020.
The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) noted that "never has an Ebola epidemic recorded so many cases in the first days after it being declared." MSF said there are not enough medical experts deployed in the affected region. State services are largely lacking in Ituri province, where access is hindered by insecurity due to armed groups and militias.
"There is experience in this country and under the government's leadership, and especially with community ownership, we can stop it," said Tedros. "These are the ingredients which are important, of course, with the support from the international community as well. So the issue is in our hands. If we do our best, it can be stopped."
Vaccine Development
No vaccine or specific treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is responsible for the current outbreak. However, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that a vaccine should be ready by the end of the year. On Saturday, the WHO stated that its experts had identified several potential vaccines that are "promising enough" to warrant evaluation in clinical trials. "In the meantime, our priority is to stop transmission with tools that we have used for decades of Ebola responses, which include disease surveillance, rapid testing and diagnosis, contact tracing, isolation and care for patients, infection prevention and control, community engagement, and safe and dignified burials," the WHO added in a statement.
North and South Kivu provinces, which have also recorded Ebola cases, have experienced nearly continuous violence for three decades. Much of the affected regions are controlled by the Rwanda-backed armed group M23, which has been battling government forces. Millions of people have fled the fighting and are living in displacement camps with poor hygiene conditions. Nearly a million displaced people are in Ituri province, where the prospect of the epidemic spreading throughout the camps has sparked alarm. "If Ebola comes, we'll be wiped out as we're packed like sardines," said Dorcas Mapenzi at the Kingonze camp on the outskirts of Bunia.
