Emery Makumeno,BBC Africa in Bunia, eastern DR CongoAnd
Jaroslav Lukiv
Anadolu via Getty Images
The rapid spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has created a “deeply alarming” situation, medical association Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned.
Speaking two weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak, MSF deputy director Dr Alan Gonzales said never before had “so many cases” been recorded so quickly.
His comments came as WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus visited Congo’s worst-hit eastern province of Ituri to oversee efforts to contain the virus.
There are now more than 1,000 suspected cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and at least 246 deaths. Neighboring Uganda has reported nine confirmed cases and one death.
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“Two weeks after the declaration of the Ebola epidemic in Ituri province, the situation is deeply alarming,” Gonzalez said in a statement on Saturday.
“Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so quickly after its declaration,” he said, stressing that his teams on the ground “were witnessing a response that has not yet caught up with the rapid spread of the epidemic.”
“The reality today is that no one knows the true scale and severity of this outbreak. New suspected cases are being reported daily, but hundreds of samples remain untested.”
Gonzalez added that containment efforts and humanitarian aid deliveries were being delayed by “major constraints,” including border and airport closures.
The WHO has repeatedly warned that the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo is also significantly hampering the response to the Ebola outbreak.
After arriving in Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri, on Saturday, Tedros said he and his team were in the Democratic Republic of Congo “to see how the response is going and if there are any challenges ahead.”
He urged communities at the center of the outbreak to play a greater role in fighting the disease, saying they “understand the problems better and also know the solution.”
Tedros also said he understood how important it was for people to honor their dead at funerals – but warned that at the moment it was dangerous.
“Certain practices, including touching the bodies of those who have died from Ebola, can further spread the virus. As we mourn those we have lost, we must do everything we can to avoid losing another and entering a cycle of grief,” he said.
Ebola viruses normally infect animals, usually fruit bats, but outbreaks in humans can sometimes start when people eat or handle infected animals.
Ebola is spread through direct contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids, including blood, vomit, diarrhea, saliva, urine, semen, and sweat. It can also be spread by touching contaminated objects such as needles, bedding or clothing.
Ebola patients should be isolated in hospital, with treatment involving symptom management – such as help with breathing and giving fluids directly into a vein to stop dehydration – according to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
In Bunia, daily life seems largely unchanged. People continue to travel, trade and go about their normal activities.
Upon arrival at the city’s airport, passengers are directed to handwashing stations where they must wash their hands with soap and water.
Public health advisories are posted in parts of the airport, while information is also broadcast on radio and television. These messages are delivered in local languages as well as in French, the official language of DR Congo.
One of the WHO chief’s first stops was the laboratory of the National Institute of Biomedical Research in Bunia, where samples from suspected Ebola patients are being tested.
Local health officials say the facility is now able to provide results within 24 hours, helping doctors quickly identify infections and begin treatment.
Until recently, samples had to be transported more than 1,500 km to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, causing delays that health workers feared could cost lives and allow the virus to spread further.
In another development, health officials in Brazil said Saturday they were investigating a suspected case of Ebola in São Paulo state.
Brazilian media report that a 37-year-old man, who recently returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo, is now in isolation at an infectious diseases institute.
The current outbreak, a rare strain of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, has no proven vaccine and kills about a third of those infected.
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