UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Ebola Update WHO
/
3:34
/
MP4
/
264.5 MB

Edited News | WHO

UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Ebola Update - WHO

Potential new Ebola virus transmission chain risks reversing major gains: WHO

Amid multiple deadly attacks on civilians by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), an Ebola death “unlinked to any chain of transmission” risks reversing major gains against the epidemic, which is now down to just a handful of cases, a top UN medic said on Friday.

Speaking in Geneva, Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director for the WHO Health Emergencies programme told journalists that while “98 per cent” of infection in the last three weeks could be traced back to two chains of transmission, a third one had been identified in Oicha health zone, Nord Kivu.

Security incidents linked to ongoing military operations against non-state armed groups and retaliatory attacks allegedly by the Allied Democratic Forces on civilians – who themselves have demonstrated against the violence, reportedly shutting down access to communities - have hampered efforts by the WHO and partners to reach communities at risk from Ebola, including Beni, Oicha, and Kyondo health zones, Dr Ryan explained.

“This individual who turned out to be a community death had visited three separate health care centres in the Oicha area before being detected,” the WHO official said. “(He) was a moto driver himself and when his colleagues in the moto driver group learned of this death, they came to sympathise and the body was manipulated by a large number of colleagues and friends from the moto driving community. This is a very mobile community and a lot of those - a number of them - have dispersed and have moved to places like, as I said, Kalunguta and others.”

According to the WHO, there have been 3,298 infections in total and 2,197 deaths since the latest outbreak was declared last August - an overall case fatality ratio of 67 per cent.

In the past week, only seven new confirmed cases of Ebola virus infection were reported in DRC’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

That is in line with confirmed infection levels in the past three weeks, which saw only 28 cases reported in four health zones in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, with the majority reported in three health zones: Mabalako (14), Beni (eight) and Mandima (five).

The reason for the high level of concern over the Oicha health zone fatality – which came after more than 30 days with no new cases – is that so many people came into contact with the deceased.

According to the WHO, the death can be linked to health zones in Kalunguta, Mandima, Mabalako and Beni, in addition to Oicha.

“When we just look at that one particular case, right now we know of over 200 contacts being associated with that case and of them we consider 62 to be of extreme high risk in terms of their exposure,” Dr Ryan said, before calling for “sustained access” to Oicha in coming weeks “to follow up and manage this situation”.

The same need for access applies to Beni and Kalunguta, he insisted, noting that it “remains to be seen” if reports were accurate that access there was better than to Oicha.

In an appeal for prompt action from all those with influence in the Ebola outbreak response, he said: “We now have a new scenario in which we have active transmission in an area where there has been active military engagement. No one predicted that. So the issue now is, everybody needs to take account of that, everybody needs to put that into their algebra now and say, ‘Okay, what can we do to create a situation in which the response can continue?’ And that requires action by all parties, by the Government, by MONUSCO, by the UN, by everybody. So it’s everybody.”

Comparing the $1 billion price tag of confronting this Ebola outbreak with the $18 million investment in preventing transmission of the virus to neighbouring Uganda, Dr Ryan insisted that now was not the time to slow operations.

“I don’t think we’re going to see an explosion” in infections, he insisted, before noting that the authorities are likely to be dealing with Ebola “for months to come”.

He added: “We have made significant progress in the containment of Ebola in the last two to three months, and the risks to other provinces and the risks to other countries have dropped dramatically. What we’re flagging here is not that we’re back to where we were, what we’re flagging here is, we have such an opportunity to finish that we need to exploit this opportunity now and security has become a major obstacle to doing that. And if we don’t, the chances are that if the security doesn’t improve or in fact deteriorates in the region, we could work our way back to a very bad situation.”

  1. Exterior shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, people taking photos, car passes behind them.
  2. Medium shot, journalists, podium with speakers, Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
  3. Medium shot, TV cameras and operators and podium with speakers behind.
  4. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director for the WHO Health Emergencies programme: “This individual who turned out to be a community death had visited three separate health care centres in the Oicha area before being detected; was a moto driver himself and when his colleagues in the moto driver group learned of this death, they came to sympathise and the body was manipulated by a large number of colleagues and friends from the moto driving community. This is a very mobile community and a lot of those - a number of them - have dispersed and have moved to places like, as I said, Kalunguta and others.”
    1. Close-up, journalist in foreground, others to rear, Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
    2. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director for the WHO Health Emergencies programme: “So when we just look at that one particular case, right now we know of over 200 contacts being associated with that case and of them we consider 62 to be of extreme high risk in terms of their exposure.”
    1. Medium shot, journalists, Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
    2. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director for the WHO Health Emergencies programme: “Of those high-risk contacts, we’ve only managed to see 19. We don’t have access to the community, so it means that less than one-third of those very high-risk contacts we’ve managed to access in the last two days.”
    1. Medium shot, journalists, Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
    2. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director for the WHO Health Emergencies programme: “We’re going to need to have sustained access to Oicha over the next three weeks in order to follow up and manage this situation. Now the same goes for Beni where we’ve had cases and the same goes for Kalunguta, although I believe the access situation in Beni and Kalunguta is better, but that remains to be seen.”
    3. Close-up, journalist’s hands typing on laptop, podium speakers forming backdrop, Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
    4. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director for the WHO Health Emergencies programme: “We now have a new scenario in which we have active transmission in an area where there has been active military engagement. No one predicted that. So the issue now is, everybody needs to take account of that, everybody needs to put that into their algebra now and say, ‘Okay, what can we do to create a situation in which the response can continue?’ And that requires action by all parties, by the Government, by MONUSCO, by the UN, by everybody. So it’s everybody.”
    1. Close-up, journalist’s hands with painted fingernails writing on notepad, partly obscured by cables, Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
    2. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director for the WHO Health Emergencies programme: “We’re essentially dealing with two residual chains of transmission that explain 98 per cent of the cases over the last three weeks. Which sounds very simple, well now you just need to break the chains of transmission in two. The exception is the case in Oicha. The case in Oicha is a community death that is currently unlinked to any chain of transmission.”
    1. Close-up, journalist looking down, others behind her, Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
    2. SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director for the WHO Health Emergencies programme: “We have made significant progress in the containment of Ebola in the last two to three months, and the risks to other provinces and the risks to other countries have dropped dramatically. What we’re flagging here is not that we’re back to where we were, what we’re flagging here is, we have such an opportunity to finish that we need to exploit this opportunity now and security has become a major obstacle to doing that. And if we don’t, the chances are that if the security doesn’t improve or in fact deteriorates in the region, we could work our way back to a very bad situation.”
    1. Medium shot, journalists in semi-profile in foreground and to rear of shot, Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
    2. Medium shot, journalists and podium speakers, Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
    3. Medium shot, journalists, Press Room III, Palais des Nations.

Similar Stories

Widespread starvation in Gaza – IPC, UN Women 29 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNWOMEN

Widespread starvation in Gaza – IPC, UN Women 29 July 2025 ENG FRA

Aid agencies echoed wider warnings of growing signs of widespread starvation in Gaza on Tuesday, as UN-partnered international food security experts released their most dire assessment yet of the situation in the wartorn enclave.

Sudan displaced return – IOM, UNDP, UNHCR 25 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | IOM , UNDP , UNHCR

Sudan displaced return – IOM, UNDP, UNHCR 25 July 2025 ENG FRA

Sudan: urgent help needed as more than 1.3 million war-displaced people begin to return home

As conflict rages on across parts of Sudan, pockets of relative safety have emerged in the past four month, spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to make their way home, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). A further 320,000 cross-border refugees have come back to Sudan since last year, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, to assess the current situation before deciding to return to their country for good.

Gaza crisis update UNRWA – WHO 22 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNRWA , WHO

Gaza crisis update UNRWA – WHO 22 July 2025 ENG FRA

Gaza: SOS messages describe people fainting from hunger; UN health worker detained

Worrying alerts from United Nations staff in Gaza who have been fainting from hunger and exhaustion over the past 48 hours have increased fears for people’s survival in the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Funding cuts impact on aid access - UNHCR Dominique Hyde - 18 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNHCR , UNOG

Funding cuts impact on aid access - UNHCR Dominique Hyde - 18 July 2025 ENG FRA

Over 11.6 million refugees risk losing aid access due to funding cuts, says UNHCR

Approximately one in three refugees and other vulnerable individuals normally supported by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) are expected to lose out from funding cuts, it said on Friday.

UN Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani on opening mission in Bangladesh

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani on opening mission in Bangladesh ENG FRA

Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the following announcement on the Office’s opening of a new mission in Bangladesh.

UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on returns of Afghans

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on returns of Afghans ENG FRA

The surge in the number of Afghans forced or compelled to return to Afghanistan this year is creating a multi-layered human rights crisis requiring the urgent attention of the international community,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.  

UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on violence in Suweida, Syria

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on violence in Suweida, Syria ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday called for accountability and justice for the killings and other gross human rights violations and abuses in the southern city of Suweida. 

Syria Sweida violence OHCHR – UNHCR 18 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR

Syria Sweida violence OHCHR – UNHCR 18 July 2025 ENG FRA

Syria: hundreds killed in Sweida, ‘widespread’ violations as civilians flee for their lives

Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Ukraine

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Ukraine ENG

At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell made the following statement on the latest number of civilian casualties in Ukraine.

UN Human Rights Briefing on West Bank

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Briefing on West Bank ENG FRA

The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday called for investigations into hundreds of killings of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Israeli security forces and settlers, warning against ongoing forced mass displacement of the Palestinian population.

Gaza And Occupied West Bank Update - OHCHR, UNRWA  15 July 2025

1

1

2

Edited News | OHCHR , UNRWA

Gaza And Occupied West Bank Update - OHCHR, UNRWA 15 July 2025 ENG FRA

Nearly 900 people have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks trying to fetch food, with most deaths linked to private aid hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on escalating gang violence  in Haiti

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on escalating gang violence in Haiti ENG FRA

The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the UN Human Rights Office have today released a report detailing the evolution of violent gang incidents beyond the capital Port-au-Prince since October 2024 up to June 2025, and the resulting loss of life and mass displacement.