WHO Warns Ebola Outbreak Outpacing Response Efforts

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is outpacing response efforts, as he reported the latest number of suspected deaths as 220.

Addressing an online meeting of the African Union about the outbreak, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a delay in detecting Ebola cases meant responders were now "playing catch-up" and the epidemic was likely to get worse before it gets better.

Dr Tedros said he would travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — the epicentre of the outbreak — on Tuesday with another senior WHO official responsible for addressing health emergencies, Chikwe Ihekweazu.

Earlier on Monday, neighbouring Uganda reported two more Ebola cases, taking its total number of confirmed cases to seven, and Dr Tedros said other countries bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo were at high risk.

The WHO has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health emergency of international concern.

Dr Tedros said containing the fast-moving outbreak was complicated by the fact that the DRC's Ituri and North Kivu provinces were highly insecure and there were no approved vaccines for Bundibugyo virus.

Congo health facilities attacked

Doctors operating on the front lines of the fight against Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, already grappling with shortages of basic supplies, are now also having to deal with attacks on their facilities and fleeing patients as the virus spreads rapidly.

At least three such incidents have occurred in the north-eastern province of Ituri where the first Ebola cases were reported, including two at the weekend targeting the same hospital that permitted more than two dozen patients to run away.

The attacks recall the widespread violence targeting health facilities during a 2018-2020 outbreak in eastern DRC that killed more than 25 health workers.

Some were perpetrated by civilians who were angry about not being able to bury their loved ones or were convinced that the outbreak was a hoax.

The influx of money and manpower into an area that had felt neglected during decades of conflict and humanitarian crisis has spurred local suspicions about the real motives for the sudden spike of interest.

A similar dynamic seems to be playing out now, said Dr Richard Lokodu, medical director of the Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, which came under attack first on Saturday and again on Sunday.

"There is denial of the disease within the population, with some members wanting to claim the bodies of suspected and/or confirmed cases," he said.