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A health worker is wearing protective gear at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, eastern Congo, on 9 September. (Al-hadji Kudra Maliro / AP)
NAIROBI – An Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has entered its most worrisome phase, with the World Health Organization emergency response leader reporting a "perfect storm" of factors preventing its containment.
The current epidemic is taking place in a an active war zone, and on Saturday afternoon, a rebel militia organized an hour-long attack in Beni, the city closest to the epicenter of the epidemic. Local media has presented conflicting reports, but at least 14 civilians have been confirmed killed, according to the Congolese government.
The attack prompted the government to declare a "dead city" out of respect for the victims, which will last until Friday, effectively forcing aid groups to suspend their efforts to monitor and combat the death penalty. # 39; outbreak.
"Every day we lose is another lost chance to care for patients, to reconnect, to carry out safe burials and to stop this epidemic before it spreads more and more," he said. Peter Salama, WHO Emergency Response Officer.
About 100 people died and 150 cases of virus were confirmed in two large provinces, North Kivu and Ituri. The Congo is massive – covering an area roughly equal to the size of the United States to the east of Mississippi – and it is its 10th Ebola outbreak. The Congo Ministry of Health has earned a reputation for being particularly good at containing the disease, but many factors in this current outbreak make this difficult.
The most important is the conflict. The attack on Saturday was blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamist group, in the local media, although with dozens of armed militias active in eastern Congo, the guilt is difficult.
Health workers are walking with a boy suspected of having Ebola in a treatment center in Beni, eastern Congo, on September 9th. (Al-hadji Kudra Maliro / AP)
Another disturbing development was the escape of an Ebola patient who later presented in the lakeside town of Tchomia. This city served as the landing of tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict, who embark on boats that take them to Uganda, on the other side. The patient died later. Her partner, whom she took with her, is in an isolation room near Kasenyi.
[A return to violence in Congo has forced 40,000 to cross Lake Albert into Uganda in search of refuge]
This is the second outbreak of Ebola in Congo this year. The first began in May and caused waves of fear in the global health community when it reached Mbandaka, a city of more than one million people located on the banks of the rivers Congo and Ruki. The international response was swift, however, and the outbreak was declared over in June with 33 deaths.
The devastating power of Ebola was proven during a painful 30-month period between 2014 and 2016, when it swept across West Africa, killing more than 11,000 people and 28,000 infections. A few cases have made it outside of Africa, causing even more alarm. There is no cure for the Ebola virus and, in the majority of cases, it is deadly, even if the chances of survival are higher.
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of an outbreak of Ebola to control is misinformation. In Congo's controversial political environment, conspiracy theories about the Ebola virus are sometimes used to cast doubts or denigrate adversaries.
"We are also seeing a very worrying trend that resistance, fueled by a completely natural fear of this terrifying disease, is starting to be exploited by local politicians," Salama told a news conference. Tuesday. -to elections, scheduled for December, that this exploitation. . . will accelerate and make it very difficult to eliminate the latest cases of Ebola. "
Read more
Ebola spreads again in Congo – this time in an active war zone
With the Ebola virus at a "critical point" in the Congo, aid groups are struggling to limit the epidemic
The current coverage of postal correspondents around the world
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