Bunia, May 30: The head of the World Health Organisation on Saturday visited eastern Congo’s Bunia, a city at the heart of an outbreak of a rare type of Ebola, where the virus is spreading faster than the response despite better-organised health facilities and new aid arrivals.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is expected to visit a treatment centre and meet local authorities, health workers and affected families in Bunia.
“The best way to address this is to provide all the necessary support to fight the disease at its epicentre and to continue offering every assistance needed,” the WHO’s director-general told reporters late Friday.
The health organisation said latest official figures showed 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths. Neighbouring Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death, the Ugandan ministry of health said Friday.
The Bundibugyo virus, the current kind of Ebola, has no approved treatment or vaccine.
“This is a difficult situation, and we recognise that. But the Democratic Republic of Congo has faced the Ebola virus many times before. We are confident that it can once again bring this outbreak under control,” Tedros said after meeting with Congo’s Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka on Friday.
Medical aid donated by the European Union arrived in Ituri, the heart of Congo’s Ebola outbreak, on Thursday. More shipments are expected in the coming days. The US announced USD 80 million in additional aid on the same day, bringing its total commitment to more than USD 112 million. (AP)
