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Public health officials warned this week that their efforts to fight a deadly Ebola epidemic are hampered by violence in the eastern province of Congo.
Authorities said they were forced to limit their efforts to contain the virus after attacks by a large rebel group armed in the region killed nearly two dozen people in a city at the heart of the epidemic .
"We have seen an increase in the frequency and severity of attacks by armed opposition groups over the last few weeks," said Peter Salama, deputy director general of preparedness and intervention. Emergency at the World Health Organization (WHO). "Our operations are outstanding."
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, Salama said the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group that fought the central government for more than two decades, had launched at least seven attacks last month. in Beni, a city in the north-east of the country. the country. The most serious attack killed at least 21 people in the heart of the city, while the rebels were targeting civilians.
The World Health Organization and partner groups in North Kivu were forced to end their activities because residents were mourning for several days.
The outbreak began in late July in the province of North Kivu, the largest province of Congo outside the capital Kinshasa. It has spread from a small village in Beni, which has about a quarter of a million inhabitants, and then to the much larger regional commercial capital, Butembo.
Officials from the Congolese Ministry of Health said Friday they had identified a new group of Ebola virus in Tchomia, a village on Lake Albert, a major border crossing between Uganda and Congo. Health authorities have found two confirmed cases and four potential cases in this country.
A woman, who allegedly attended the funeral of an Ebola virus victim before returning to her original village, has died, officials said.
Salama said progress against the virus was promising. While on average about 40 new cases per week appeared at the beginning of the epidemic, this average has now fallen to about 10 new cases per week.
In total, health authorities have identified 157 confirmed and probable Ebola cases in the two provinces where it is present. According to the Congolese Ministry of Health, the outbreak killed 102 people and 45 others survived and were released.
According to the World Health Organization, health officials monitor 1660 people who have been in contact with a patient with Ebola.
People most likely to get sick stay in daily contact with health officials in case they develop the disease, a practice known as contact tracing.
The presence of the virus near an international border and ongoing violence in Beni have raised concerns that the global response is not sufficient to contain the epidemic. The WHO is preparing Ugandan, Rwandan and Burundian governments for the possibility that Ebola will cross their borders.
"The response at this stage is at a critical juncture," said Salama.
The WHO said it inspected nearly 6 million people at 45 crossing points along Congo's borders with its neighbors.
This is the second Ebola outbreak in which stakeholders were able to use a vaccine, developed by Merck following the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, which killed more than 100,000 people. 11,300 people. So far, health officials have vaccinated more than 12,200 people against the Ebola virus.
Witnessing the speed with which the health authorities have deployed the vaccine, the Ministry of Health said that 177 people in Tchomia had been vaccinated through Friday, a few days after the identification of the first case.
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