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Ebola in DRC: first month of outbreak sees record number of cases – UN humanitarians

Ebola has been spreading at unprecedented speed in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), bringing risk and fear into people’s daily lives, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Dr Abdirahman Mahamud, Director, Health Emergency Alert and Response Operations at the World Health Organization (WHO), who returned last week from one month in the DRC, said that as of Monday, there are 1,048 confirmed cases reported, of which 267 deaths.

“This is the largest number of confirmed cases in the first month of an Ebola disease outbreak in Africa,” he said.

During the current outbreak due to the Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus, declared on 15 May, it only took 37 days to reach 250 deaths, Dr Mahamud explained, while in comparison, it took 78 days to reach that number in the 2014 and 2016 West Africa outbreak, and 130 days in the 2018-2019 outbreak.

Ugochi Daniels, Deputy Director General for Operations at the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), highlighted the dramatic impact of the disease on families, who are carrying “immense burdens”.

“Everyday life has become fraught with risk,” she insisted. “The journey to feed your family or earn a living can also become a journey into danger.”

The virus has become “more than a health crisis,” she explained. “It touches every aspect of daily life, bringing uncertainty and fear.”

Ms. Daniels said that the outbreak is “centered on areas where people cross borders every day.” An effective response therefore requires maintaining surveillance as formal and informal cross-border movements continue, she explained, among communities affected by conflict and insecurity.

Since the start of the response, IOM and partners have screened over a million travelers “at key points of entry and along major mobility corridors”, she said.

The IOM official said that out of $55.8 million required to support cross-border coordination and surveillance across 11 countries over the next six months a funding gap of some $35 million remains.

“What is needed in order for us to get ahead of the outbreak is a collective commitment to ensure that the effort is now fully resourced,” she insisted.

WHO’s Dr Mahamud noted encouraging signs that the response has been expanding to keep pace with the spread.

The number of treatment beds has increased over the last two weeks, “going from a handful to over 500 beds across 19 health zones,” he said.

At the same time, surveillance has been scaled up, with laboratory capacity going from 30 tests a day in Kinshasa at the start of the outbreak to over 2,000 tests per day through a network of eight decentralized labs across Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

Paolo Cravero, Senior Officer, Communications and Media Relations at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), highlighted safe and dignified burials as another pillar of the response. IFRC has been delivering dedicated kits and body bags to the affected areas despite their remote location and security challenges, he said.

“Like in any crisis, any outbreak, such as Ebola, the tension tends to grow,” Mr. Cravero stressed. “And we have seen violence against our volunteers at [safe and dignified burial] sites.”

The IFRC spokesperson highlighted “a lack of trust in the response,” insisting that the organization is “working hard with communities to bridge that gap.”

“Rumour and misinformation are creating some difficulties,” he acknowledged.

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Ebola DRC update - WHO, IOM, IFRC

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