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(MENAFN – The Peninsula) Sam Mednick I AP
JUBA, South Sudan: The Ebola outbreak in Congo is an international emergency. His neighbor, South Sudan, and his war-weakened health system are a major concern, especially after the confirmation of a case near his border. Health experts believe that it is urgent to intensify prevention efforts.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday issued the emergency declaration on the outbreak of the year, a rare initiative that usually leads to more comprehensive attention and badistance. More than 1,600 people have died in what has become the second most serious Ebola outbreak in history.
Health experts are worried about what would happen if the Ebola virus reached South Sudan while this torn country was trying to recover from a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced millions of people. Many health facilities have been badly damaged or destroyed and unrest continues in parts of the country despite the fragile peace agreement signed in September.
Last month, a 41-year-old woman was found infected with Ebola in northeastern Congo, just 70 kilometers from South Sudan. She had traveled 500 kilometers from Beni, the epicenter of the epidemic, while she had been exposed to the virus and had warned not to travel.
South Sudan has sent a health team to strengthen surveillance at one of the busiest border posts, Kaya, in the state of Central Equatoria, near where the woman's case has been confirmed. His was the closest confirmed case to South Sudan since the outbreak was declared.
"The risk of transmission of Ebola through the South Sudan border is very high," said Sudhir Bunga, National Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in South Sudan. "A person who comes into contact with a confirmed case of Ebola in (Congo) could go to South Sudan or any neighboring country without being detected during the 21-day incubation period and spread the disease once contagious. "
This is what happened recently in Uganda, a more stable neighbor country, with a more developed health system and numerous Ebola outbreaks, as millions of people cross the border. borders in a densely populated area. Three people died in Uganda before other family members were brought back to Congo for treatment and the Ugandan authorities quickly declared that the country was free from the disease again.
The spread of the Ebola virus in South Sudan would be an additional challenge.
Even though Ebola preparedness, including vaccination of some health workers, began several months ago, the current phase of the $ 12 million country response plan is funded at 36%, according to the report. a report released this month by the country's Ministry of Health.
Fighting in places such as Central Equatoria hampered Ebola preparedness efforts. The UN agency for migration issues manages 15 screening sites along the border, but three more have not yet been created, in part because of access difficulties.
Many communities in southern Sudan do not have the basic resources to deal with one of the world's most notorious diseases. The telephone network of Central Equatoria is limited, which means that most people can not call the emergency helpline. Many hospitals do not have trained personnel to cope with the virus or isolation rooms needed to control its spread.
The country is about 60 percent ready to deal with an eventual Ebola outbreak, said Richard Lako of the national working group on the Ebola virus in South Sudan at the Associated Press.
But he expressed his concern about the border: "There are forest areas between the communities of Southern Sudan and Congo and these people can not be filtered from the other side. a big problem if these people sneak in and we have a case.It will take time to get in and control the problem. "
Prevention efforts in South Sudan include educating communities to dispel myths about the Ebola virus, which pose a major challenge for people who respond to diseases in Congo. Health workers from border towns in southern Sudan are trying to inform the population, with the support of WHO and people who have responded to the devastating epidemic in Africa. from the West of 2014-2016, which claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people.
Earlier this year, in an animated session in a barracks near Yei, a large city in western South Sudan, near the Congolese border, two US staff members bumped into each other for show how to greet others without shaking hands. Ebola is spread through close contact with the body fluids of infected people.
"Do not touch yourself, do not play with saliva, neither yours nor anyone else's," said a WHO staff member in Sierra Leone.
This month, diplomats and other officials made a special visit to Yei, one of the cities most affected by the civil war in South Sudan, to observe the preparations in view of the fight against the Ebola virus.
"This is really the most important place in South Sudan right now," said US Ambbadador Thomas Hushek, according to the United Kingdom's Southern Sudan mission. "This is where we worry most about what could happen."
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