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KINSHASA, June 4 (Reuters) – The number of Ebola cases in eastern Congo has exceeded 2,000, according to figures released Monday by the government, while the number of new cases has tripled and that containment efforts have failed in this isolated and unstable region.
Local mistrust of health workers and attacks by armed militias against Ebola clinics have helped to accelerate the largest epidemic of viruses ever recorded.
The epidemic reached 1,000 cases in March, more than seven months after its detection last August. It took less than three months to reach 2,000, according to figures from the Ministry of Health and aid agencies in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 1300 died.
Stakeholders face two obstacles: the resistance of communities who believe that the Ebola virus is a conspiracy constituted by humanitarian agencies and the government, and armed groups seeking to fuel instability for their own benefit.
"The current response to fight the Ebola virus is not working," said Corinne N Daw, Country Director of Oxfam in Congo. "No matter how effective the treatment, if people do not believe it and do not understand it, they will not use it."
A crowd killed an Ebola health worker and looted a clinic in the village of Vusahiro earlier this month. According to WHO figures of 3 May, between the beginning of January and the beginning of May, there were 42 attacks on health facilities, making 85 wounded or dead
"Whenever an incident occurs … we are not able to provide services and go to communities.We are not able to vaccinate or treat those who are sick, we are not able to follow those who may have been exposed to the virus, "said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic. (Report by Fiston Mahamba, additional report by Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay and Tom Miles in Geneva, writing by Juliette Jabkhiro, writing by Edward McAllister, Larry King)
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