"Very serious" situation of Ebola in eastern DRC

Violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo hampers efforts to contain an Ebola outbreak that has already killed more than 150 people, according to the World Health Organization.

"This is a very serious situation, and we have been concerned from the beginning that the security situation is influencing the response to such a level that we can not really function fully," said a spokesman for the group. WHO, Tarik Jasarevic.

The epidemic in the Congolese province of North Kivu is located in a conflict zone where dozens of armed groups operate. Humanitarian agencies have been forced to suspend or slow down their activities several times since the beginning of the epidemic in July.

Health workers killed

This happened again this weekend when two health agents belonging to the Congolese army were killed by rebels. The following day, residents of the city of Beni stoned vehicles from the rescue groups during a demonstration against another rebel attack that killed at least 13 people.

Jasarevic told VOA's English-African service that the incidents had forced the Ebola containment teams to severely restrict their operations. The result?

"Contacts will not be followed, it's something that needs to be done on a daily basis – people who are susceptible to developing the disease will not go to treatment centers immediately and will be a danger to their environment," he said. -he declares.

Confinement delayed

This means that health workers will essentially have to start from scratch to locate contacts of Ebola victims and ensure that they are vaccinated.

"In case we could not access the communities, if measures are not taken, safe burials, search for contacts, vaccination, treatment of the sick – it is really difficult to hope that the Ebola outbreak can be contained alone, "says Jasarevic.

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According to the latest WHO report released Tuesday, 238 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola virus disease have been reported in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri in Congo. He said that 155 people died.

The WHO warned that the virus could spread to neighboring countries, such as Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.

"Neighboring countries must be ready in case the epidemic spreads beyond the Democratic Republic of Congo," says the latest report from the WHO.