By Muhammad Amaan with agency report
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday said the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has not yet stabilised and is still expanding, with transmission fuelled by the population.
DR Congo has confirmed 1,561 cases, including 506 deaths, in the worst-ever outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola for which there is no proven treatment or cure.
WHO representative in the country, Dr Anne Ancia, said “it is still in the expansion phase, unfortunately. We would like to say it is stabilising, but frankly we cannot say it yet.”
She said that major challenges remained, such as the near-saturation of some Ebola treatment centres with occupancy levels around 90 per cent.
According to her, another difficulty is that workers falling ill in the mining town of Mongbwalu are not seeking treatment locally, but instead travelling and spreading the disease to new regions.
“Population, movements, persistent insecurity and the fragility of the health system continue to complicate efforts to bring the outbreak under control,” Ancia said.
Meanwhile, the Congo Information Ministry reported that more than 500 people have died in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The ministry reported 1,561 confirmed cases, including 506 deaths.
It said 628 patients are currently receiving treatment in hospitals and isolation centres, while 253 people have recovered.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) expressed concern that patients testing positive for the disease are repeatedly fleeing isolation centres, complicating containment efforts.
In neighbouring Uganda, 19 infections have been recorded, including two deaths, since the outbreak was first identified in May.
The Ugandan cases are linked to the outbreak in north-eastern Congo.
Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with infected bodily fluids.
The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo variant, which has proved difficult to contain due to the absence of a licensed vaccine or specific antiviral treatment.
However, two antiviral therapies have recently entered clinical testing and have been undergoing evaluation.
