Geneva, Aug 5 (dpa/GNA) – The Ebola virus outbreak in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is “more critical than ever,” Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Wednesday as World Health Organization (WHO) head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, visited the region.
Around two and a half months after the outbreak, MSF said the virus was spreading “at an alarming and unprecedented rate, despite the tireless efforts of frontline medical teams.”
Tedros travelled to the Congo for the second time since the outbreak began, and was due to meet government officials and humanitarian organizations in Kinshasa to discuss ways to improve efforts to contain the deadly disease.
More than 3,600 laboratory-confirmed infections have been recorded so far. About 1,500 people have died. A major challenge is that health authorities are still unable to identify enough of the contacts of infected people to protect them from infection.
According to MSF, 90% of patients admitted to a treatment centre in Bunia had not previously been identified as contacts. Public health experts regard contact tracing as the key to controlling the outbreak.
If more than 90% of contacts can be identified, isolated and treated at the first signs of illness, the outbreak can be brought under control. “There is an urgent need for improved community engagement. A successful response can only be achieved if it is built with and led by local organizations,” MSF said.
Widespread distrust of the authorities, combined with fighting in rebel-held areas is severely hampering those efforts. The current outbreak has become the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the Congo.
The start of the rainy season is expected to make transportation and humanitarian operations even more difficult.
GNA