WHO chief lands in eastern Congo’s Ituri province, epicenter of Ebola, as outbreak outpaces response
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization Saturday arrived in eastern Congo’s Bunia, a city at the heart of an outbreak of a rare type of Ebola, where the virus still spreads faster than the response, despite better-organized health facilities and new aid arrivals.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is expected to visit a treatment center and meet local authorities, health workers and affected families in Bunia.
“The best way to address this is to provide all the necessary support to fight the disease at its epicenter and to continue offering every assistance needed,” Tedros told reporters late Friday.
The WHO said Friday authorities have reported 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths. Neighboring Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death, the Ugandan ministry of health said Friday.
The Bundibugyo virus, the current kind of Ebola, has no approved treatment or vaccine.
“This is a difficult situation, and we recognize that. But the Democratic Republic of Congo has faced the Ebola virus many times before. We are confident that it can once again bring this outbreak under control,” Tedros told reporters Friday after meeting with Congo's Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka.
Medical aid donated by the European Union arrived in Ituri, the heart of Congo’s Ebola outbreak, on Thursday, with more shipments expected over the next eight days. The U.S. announced $80 million in additional aid on the same day, bringing its total commitment to more than $112 million.
Response efforts at Bunia's Rwampara and General hospitals appear more organized, with additional staff, protective gear and medical supplies, though patients continue arriving around the clock, an AP reporter observed on Friday.
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Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press reporter Saleh Mwanamilongo in Bonn, Germany, contributed to this report.
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