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FILE – On Sunday September 9, 2018, health workers are walking with a boy suspected of contracting Ebola in an Ebola treatment center in Beni, eastern Congo. According to the World Health Organization, the risk of Ebola spreading from Congo is now "very high" after the discovery of two confirmed cases near the Ugandan border. The epidemic in northeastern Congo is more important than the previous one in the northwest and more complicated for health officials insecure by rebel groups. As of Friday, September 28, there were 124 confirmed Ebola cases, including 71 deaths. LessFILE – On Sunday September 9, 2018, health workers are walking with a boy suspected of contracting Ebola in an Ebola treatment center in Beni, eastern Congo. The World Health Organization says that … more
Photo: Al-hadji Kudra Maliro, AP
Photo: Al-hadji Kudra Maliro, AP
JOHANNESBURG (AP) – The risk of spreading the deadly Ebola virus from Congo is now "very high" after the discovery of two confirmed cases near the Ugandan border, the World Health Organization has announced .
The outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in northeastern Congo is now larger than the previous one in the north-west and more complicated to contain because of the density of its population and its high mobility and the threat posed by the groups. rebels active in the region.
A deadly attack in Beni, at the heart of the Ebola containment efforts, forced the job to be suspended for two days earlier in the week.
This has prompted WHO's chief of emergency, Peter Salama, to warn that insecurity, public mistrust of vaccinations and fears raised by politicians before the December elections could create a "perfect storm" that could spread the epidemic.
On Friday, 124 Ebola cases were confirmed, including 71 deaths. The previous outbreak in Equateur province in Congo, declared more than a week before the announcement of the current outbreak, had recorded 54 confirmed cases, including 33 deaths.
This is the first time that an Ebola outbreak is occurring in this part of the Congo, affecting the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, where more than one million many people would be displaced by the unrest.
Health workers have had to deal with various rumors and fears about the disease, which is spread through the bodily fluids of infected people, including those who have died.
"Some patients have also left health facilities to seek alternative care," said Thursday the WHO in a statement. An infected person has settled in a "red zone" where security is inadequate and it is "extremely difficult, if not impossible, to deploy Ebola response efforts."
The virus has moved near the Ugandan border when a woman who had participated in the burial of Ebola victims refused to be vaccinated in Beni and then disappeared, said local officials. She died on September 20th at a Tshomia hospital on Lake Albert.
The second case of Ebola confirmed in Tshomia was the woman's partner, the WHO said.
"Although substantial progress has been made, the situation is precarious," said the US health agency about containment efforts. He continues to recommend travel restrictions.
Uganda said it was preparing to start vaccinations as needed. The Congo Ministry of Health said that more than 12,000 people have been vaccinated to date.
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