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TThe World Health Organization said Tuesday that it feared that an Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading further in this country.
Dr. Peter Salama, Deputy Director General of the WHO, said at a press conference Tuesday that worrying factors in the region "could come together in the coming weeks or months to create a perfect storm ".
The region is plagued by violence, people are actively fleeing health workers trying to vaccinate and treating them, and politicians in North Kivu province have spread conspiracy theories that the government is in the dark. origin of the Ebola virus.
"We can see this situation deteriorate very quickly," said Salama.
Health care workers use an experimental vaccine in patients, but they have to face difficult circumstances when they are trying to reach those who may have become infected. The latest outbreak is in a war-torn region bordering Uganda and Rwanda.
About 1 million people living in the area have been displaced and are still on the move, making it difficult for people to be vaccinated and monitored for three weeks, an effective strategy that they adopted earlier this year in another region. of Congo. .
Although 11,700 people have received the vaccine, at least 150 people are infected and 100 people have died. Dangerous burials in which people are touching infected bodies are causing a continuing spread of Ebola and at least one case has been detected in one village in Uganda.
Salama described the epidemic as "the most difficult context" that health officials have had to deal with in the fight against Ebola.
Ebola can be deadly when it is not treated, causing diarrhea, bleeding from the body and damage to the immune system and organs. Different treatments are tested, but for most infected patients receive intravenous infusion and are monitored for electrolyte balance and adequate oxygen.
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