DR Congo Ebola Outbreak Spreading, MSF Warns

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s worst Ebola outbreak in history is spreading to new parts of the country rather than slowing down, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned on Friday.

Since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, the deadly virus has killed more than 3,600 people out of 7,200 recorded infections, according to the World Health Organization.

Much of the latest outbreak, the DRC’s 17th, has been concentrated in hard-to-reach areas in the north and east that have faced prolonged instability and the presence of armed groups.

“It’s too soon now to say that the outbreak is pacing down,” MSF epidemiologist Manuel Albela Miranda told AFP in an interview at the medical charity’s international headquarters in Geneva.

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that there were encouraging signs the epidemic was slowing. However, Africa’s top health body warned a day later that the outbreak could not yet be considered under control.

Guyguy Manangama, MSF’s deputy operations director, said the situation was alarming and warned that people could be lowering their guard.

The disease appears to be declining in the northeastern province of Ituri, where the outbreak was first detected, but has spread to other areas.

Recent cases have been reported in South-Ubangi province, which borders the Central African Republic and Congo-Brazzaville. North Kivu, which borders Rwanda, currently accounts for nearly half of all newly recorded Ebola cases.

“Cases keep popping up in different areas and that is why we are concerned about the current situation of the outbreak,” Miranda said.

MSF has about 1,700 staff working in the DRC, around 90 percent of whom are Congolese. Miranda said the organisation had found many health facilities in affected areas, but they lacked sufficient staff and resources to respond to the outbreak.

Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe internal and external bleeding and organ failure.

The disease has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years, according to the report.

There is currently no approved vaccine or treatment against the Bundibugyo strain identified as responsible for the current outbreak in the DRC.

SOURCE: AFP