- Rapid deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC: 1,792 infected and 625 dead; Bundibugyo strain has no vaccine.
- UN warns the outbreak could deepen an already dire humanitarian crisis and calls for stepped up response to prevent further deterioration.
- Concern Ebola focus will eclipse cholera, polio and maternal care; maternity births fell sharply and community trust in health centers is eroding.
A deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo risks exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation in the troubled region, Unicef’s east Africa director warned Friday.
Rich in precious minerals but riven by decades of conflict, eastern DRC is the epicentre of an outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever that has infected 1,792 people and killed 625 since it was detected in May, according to the latest figures from Congolese health authorities.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no vaccine.
“The virus is evolving very fast and spreading very fast,” the UN children’s fund’s regional director, Gilles Fagninou, told AFP after a visit to the hard-hit province of Ituri.
“The biggest fear today is that we’ll have short memories and focus exclusively on Ebola,” he added, saying cholera, polio and access to maternity wards were also critical problems in the DRC’s east.
He said the response to both Ebola and other health issues needed to be stepped up to avoid “tumbling into a humanitarian situation even worse than in the past”.
Maternity ward births for example fell from around 130 a month before the epidemic to around 30 a month now, he said.
“There’s a crisis of trust between communities and health centres,” he said.
“Ebola’s there, and we have to focus efforts on it, but there are also traditional diseases killing children.”
