WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus plans to visit a treatment center and engage with local officials, healthcare workers, and families impacted by the outbreak in Bunia.
“The most effective way to tackle this issue is to deliver all necessary support to combat the disease at its source while continuously providing essential assistance,” Tedros conveyed to reporters late Friday.
On Friday, the WHO reported 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected fatalities. According to Uganda’s health ministry, nine cases and one death have been confirmed in neighboring Uganda.
The Bundibugyo virus, which is the current strain of Ebola, lacks any approved treatments or vaccines.
“This is a challenging situation, and we acknowledge that. However, the Democratic Republic of Congo has confronted the Ebola virus many times previously. We are confident it can manage to control this outbreak once again,” Tedros told reporters after meeting with Congo’s Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka on Friday.
Medical assistance from the European Union arrived in Ituri, the center of Congo’s Ebola outbreak, on Thursday, with more shipments anticipated in the next eight days. The U.S. announced an additional $80 million in aid on the same day, raising its total commitment to over $112 million.
Response operations at Rwampara and General hospitals in Bunia appear better organized, featuring additional manpower, protective equipment, and medical supplies, although patients continue to arrive non-stop, as witnessed by an AP reporter on Friday.
Response efforts have struggled to keep pace with one of the fastest-spreading outbreaks on record, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) cautioned on Saturday.
“This outbreak has recorded an unprecedented number of cases shortly after its declaration,” Dr. Alan Gonzalez, MSF’s deputy director of operations, stated.
“The true scale and severity of this outbreak remains unknown,” Gonzalez remarked, calling for immediate expansion of testing, quicker deployment of aid workers, and consistent access to medical supplies.
Health workers face increased dangers due to local residents’ frustration over strict medical protocols for handling victims’ bodies, which conflict with traditional burial customs. There have been at least three reported attacks on health facilities by community members.
In Ituri, attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group connected to the Islamic State, along with a coalition of ethnic militias, have further obstructed the response efforts.
The illness has also been reported in the Congolese provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, south of Ituri, where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group controls many major cities, including Goma and Bukavu. The rebels have documented two cases.
Uganda and Rwanda have closed their borders, and last week, the Trump administration prohibited entry for non-U.S. passport holders who had recently traveled to Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan.
Tedros stated on Friday that border closures and travel bans are “not effective at all” in preventing the outbreak’s spread.
“Border closures, as some countries have enacted, only deter transparency. The Democratic Republic of Congo is openly and transparently reporting the situation,” he remarked, urging nations to reassess these measures.
