Tedros Ghebreyesus, director-general (DG) of the World Health Organisation (WHO), says 101 cases of Ebola, including 10 deaths have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In an X post on Monday, the WHO DG said, “there are now more than 900 suspected cases and 220 suspected deaths” in the country, adding that “the epidemic in the DRC is much larger.”
He said the ongoing violence and humanitarian challenges in DR Congo are hampering and worsening efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak.
Ghebreyesus added that WHO would continue to scale up the response with its partners, noting that more cases are expected to be identified in the coming days and weeks.
“The sooner we can trace people with infections and identify their contacts, the sooner we can provide the care they need and bring this outbreak under control,” he said.
Meanwhile, Roger Kamba, the DR Congo’s minister of health, had said insecurity and laboratory limitations complicated the response to the Ebola virus during the early phase of the outbreak.
Speaking at a media briefing after a high-level ministerial cross-border coordination meeting convened in Kampala on Saturday, Kamba said the country’s delay in response to Ebola was because the laboratory in Bunia could not detect the Bundibugyo strain, and it was necessary to send the samples to Kinshasa.
Kamba noted that the DRC government is engaging diplomatic and mediation channels, including international partners, to facilitate access and coordination in areas under control of the M23, an armed terrorist group, so that Ebola response activities could continue across affected regions.
