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A Rwandan public health official refuted reports that the Ebola epidemic in the Congo has now spread to the country. This is in reaction to a supposed WHO statement that a patient with Ebola virus would have crossed the border by Gisenyi. ( pixabay )
The Rwandan government has rejected a report from the World Health Organization that the Ebola outbreak has affected the country through the border town of Gisenyi.
Malic Kayumba, Rwanda Biomedical Center's communications officer, told local journalists that Rwanda was not infected with the Ebola virus and that the government remained committed to keeping it that way.
"There is no Ebola in Rwanda for us, we have a strong surveillance system in place to help prevent entry," Kayumba said.
"We are investigating every day and have a system informing us of everything we need to know, such news would come in. If an alleged Ebola victim had been introduced, we would have known it. . "
Possible case of Ebola in Uganda
The WHO announced earlier this week that the Ebola virus has already reached areas beyond the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to an international health agency, a Congolese fishmonger crossed the Congolese border on July 11 to sell fish on a market in the Ugandan city of Mpondwe. Before the woman was in Uganda, she would have had several vomitings before returning to Congo. The fishmonger died later, according to the WHO.
However, WHO subsequently withdrew the announcement, saying it had been published without the knowledge of the headquarters of the organization in Geneva, Switzerland. The report would have been prepared by the Ugandan Ministry of Health and published in the daily updates of WHO Africa.
In a statement, the WHO said the situation reports had "information not verified by mistake. "The documents have since been been removed from the organization's website.
The statement from the health agency did not mention what exactly was unverified in the unauthorized reports. He also did not discuss Rwanda, which is now on high alert after the death of a Congolese because of the Ebola virus in the border town of Goma.
Goma is home to more than one million inhabitants and is a regional and international gateway between the DRC and Rwanda.
Rwandan health officials said they have intensified screening of travelers at entry points to prevent the Ebola virus from crossing the border. They also asked residents to give up their travel plans in areas currently affected by the ongoing epidemic.
The latest Ebola death demonstrates the "powdered" nature of the epidemic, according to the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The recent spread of the disease is now the second most serious incident ever recorded, with losses already reaching nearly 1,700 deaths since it began last August.
Global Health Emergency
The WHO said on Wednesday that the Ebola epidemic in the Congo was now an international public health emergency, after rebadessing the situation on the ground. The health agency hopes that designating the crisis as a global emergency will help mobilize international support for containment efforts.
However, WHO does not recommend any restrictions or border closures to avoid harming the economy of the region. Preventing trade or travel to Congo could severely limit the ability of emergency responders and healthcare providers to cope with the Ebola outbreak.
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