WHO: Too few beds for Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The number of beds for Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo is far from enough. More than twice as many admission places for patients are needed - and, above all, they have to be built outside the originally affected province of Ituri, reports the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva.

There are currently 59 treatment centers with 1,400 beds in the second largest country in Africa by area, said WHO logistics expert Luca Fontana after a mission in the Congo. A further 1,600 beds are needed. The number of nursing staff must be increased from 4,000 to 9,000. The WHO is working on it.

According to authorities, 6,686 people have already been infected in the ongoing outbreak and 3,226 have died from the highly contagious infectious disease. According to the Congolese Institute for National Health, 819 patients are currently being treated or in isolation wards - with bed capacities being used differently in the six affected provinces.

Former patients become Ebola nurses

Training is in full swing, but it must also be ensured that health operations can continue to run outside of the Ebola centers. Among other things, there are some of the 1,500 patients in training who have recovered from an Ebola infection.

Maintaining a treatment center with 50 beds costs around 500,000 dollars (around 430,000 euros), said Fontana. The nurses' protective clothing alone, which they can only wear once, costs $25 per use.

Life-threatening fever

Ebola fever is a life-threatening disease. The virus is transmitted through physical contact and contact with body fluids and causes fever with diarrhea and bleeding.