WHO Warns DRC Ebola Outbreak Is Outpacing Response After 220 Suspected Deaths
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 25
WHO Warns DRC Ebola Outbreak Is Outpacing Response After 220 Suspected Deaths
17 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 25
220 suspected deaths have been recorded in the DRC outbreak, and WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the epidemic is now outpacing response efforts as neighboring countries face high risk.
Attacks in Ituri are disrupting containment: residents stormed Mongbwalu hospital on Saturday and Sunday, 25 Ebola patients fled, and one critically ill suspected patient died while trying to escape.
The violence was driven by demands for traditional burials, which involve washing and touching bodies; authorities block that practice because corpses can be highly contagious and have fueled past Ebola spread.
Uganda reported two more cases on Monday, bringing its confirmed total to seven, while Tedros said insecurity in Ituri and North Kivu and the lack of an approved vaccine for Bundibugyo ebolavirus are complicating control.
With Ebola now in Uganda, how prepared are neighboring African nations for a wider regional contagion?
Could a new Oxford vaccine arrive in time to contain Congo's spiraling, violence-plagued Ebola outbreak?
Are forceful health mandates fueling more distrust and violence than the Ebola virus itself in eastern Congo?