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Family members lay leaves on the grave of a deceased Ebola parent in Butembo
The world is entering a "new phase" where large epidemics of deadly diseases like Ebola are a "new normal," warns the World Health Organization.
Previous Ebola outbreaks have affected a relatively small number of people.
But the Democratic Republic of Congo faces the second largest epidemic ever, just three years after the end of the world's largest epidemic.
The WHO said countries and other agencies should focus on preparing for new deadly epidemics.
What is Ebola?
- Ebola is a virus that initially causes sudden fever, severe weakness, muscle aches and sore throat.
- It develops into vomiting, diarrhea and internal and external bleeding.
- A person is infected when she has direct contact, through a broken skin, or mouth and nose, with blood, vomit, stool or body fluids. a person with Ebola.
- Patients tend to die from dehydration and organic insufficiency.
There were 2,025 cases of Ebola and 1,357 deaths due to the virus during the epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The largest epidemic in West Africa in 2014-2016 affected 28,616 people, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. There were 11,310 deaths.
Yet the 12 epidemics between 2000 and 2010 averaged less than 100 cases.
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So why are modern epidemics so much more important?
"We are entering a whole new phase of high-impact epidemics and it's not just Ebola," said Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the Emergency Program. WHO health facilities.
He said the world "is witnessing a very worrying convergence of risks" that increases the risk of diseases such as Ebola, cholera and yellow fever.
He said climate change, emerging diseases, rainforest logging, large and highly mobile populations, weak governments and conflicts made epidemics more likely and more likely to grow once it was over. they occurred.
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Dr. Ryan stated that the World Health Organization was monitoring 160 cases of diseases worldwide and that nine of them were third year emergencies (the highest level of urgency in the world). # 39; WHO).
He said: "I do not think we ever had to face so much urgency at the same time.
"It's a new normal, I do not think the frequency of these events will diminish."
As a result, he argued that countries and other bodies should "become familiar with the [and] to be ready for these epidemics ".
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DRC Armed Forces soldiers prepare to escort health workers
The epidemic in DR Congo continues to worry health officials.
It took 224 days for the number of cases to reach 1,000, but only 71 additional days to reach 2,000.
Conflicts in the region have complicated the fight against the disease: between January and May, there were more than 40 attacks against health facilities.
Another problem is the mistrust of health care workers with about a third of deaths in the community. This means that people do not seek treatment and may spread the disease to their neighbors and relatives.
Dr. Josie Golding, who is in charge of outbreaks at the Wellcome Trust, said the world needs to be better prepared for such outbreaks.
She told the BBC: "With Ebola in West Africa, it's the mobility of people and porous borders – it's the world we live in, it does not stop."
She said that climate change could lead to more epidemics such as cholera in Mozambique after cyclone Idai, but hoped that diseases resulting from humanitarian crises would no longer be a new normality.
"Preparedness needs to be improved, we can see population movements and climate change, we can see a lot of them coming, and we need more resources to plan and prepare."
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