WHO Africa director warns against underestimating Ebola outbreak

The World Health Organization’s Africa director on Friday warned against underestimating the risk posed by the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring Uganda, saying even a single case could trigger wider transmission beyond the affected countries, Reuters reported. Speaking to Reuters in Geneva, Mohamed Yakub Janabi said it would be “a big mistake to underestimate it, especially with a virus with this strain, Bundibugyo, (for) which we don't have the vaccine.” “So I would really encourage everyone, let's help each other, we can bring this thing into control,” he said. Janabi said the Ebola outbreak in Congo had received relatively limited international attention compared with this month’s hantavirus outbreak linked to cruise ship passengers from 23 countries. “You just need one contact case to put all of us at risk, so my wish and prayer is that we should give (Ebola) the attention it deserves,” he said. Ebola is a severe and often fatal disease that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected individuals, contaminated materials, or the bodies of people who have died from the infection. Symptoms include fever, body aches, vomiting and diarrhoea. According to data published by the DRC health ministry on Thursday, the outbreak has resulted in 160 suspected deaths out of 670 suspected cases, with 61 confirmed infections so far. Two confirmed cases have also been reported in Uganda. Janabi declined to estimate how long the current outbreak might last, saying experts were still assessing the scale of the situation. He said the “hyperdynamic movement of the people” had made it difficult to fully gauge the outbreak. He added that efforts were underway to increase testing, strengthen infection prevention measures and improve community engagement. Referring to an incident in which Ebola treatment tents were burned following a dispute over a victim’s body, Janabi said authorities were “trying to fight both frontiers” — the virus itself and misinformation circulating among local communities. He also said epidemiologists were yet to identify the first infected person linked to the outbreak.