Ebola spread in DR Congo 'deeply alarming', MSF warns
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has called the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo 'deeply alarming,' warning that contact-tracing capacity in Ituri province is being eroded by conflict and logistics, BBC reported. The group says more medical staff and laboratory support are urgently needed to contain the Bundibugyo-strain outbreak.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has called the spread of Ebola in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo 'deeply alarming' and urged an accelerated global response. BBC reports that MSF's Ituri team leader Pierre Briand said cases had roughly doubled over the past three weeks and that transport obstacles between Bunia and Goma were slowing access to treatment centres.
Latest data from the World Health Organization put the outbreak at 738 confirmed cases and 202 deaths, the 17th Ebola outbreak recorded in the DRC. The MSF warning coincided with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom's Friday field visit to Ituri. Health Minister Roger Kamba said contact tracing was reaching just 47 percent of estimated contacts, well below the 78 percent achieved in the 2018-20 outbreak.
MSF said M23-controlled corridors near the outbreak zone were a logistical obstacle, although additional medical kit had begun reaching Bunia via airlift this week. Africa CDC Director Jean Kaseya said the 11-country regional preparedness plan foresees the risk of case numbers doubling again within the next 90 days. WHO has called a 285 million-dollar donor conference for September in Geneva, with only 42 percent of pledges secured so far.
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