Medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders has warned that the rapid spread of the Ebola virus in the Republic of Congo has created an “extremely worrying” situation.
Two weeks after the outbreak was declared, the organization’s deputy director, Dr. Alan Gonzalez, said that never before has there been so many cases of Ebola in such a short period of time.
His statement came as the head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, visited the Ituri province in eastern Congo, the area most affected by the outbreak, to assess efforts to contain the virus.
More than 1,000 suspected cases of Ebola have been reported in the Republic of Congo so far, while at least 246 people have died. Neighboring Uganda has also reported nine confirmed cases of Ebola and one death.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Dr. Gonzalez said that “the situation is extremely worrying two weeks after the declaration of an Ebola outbreak in Ituri province.”
He said that “never before has such a large number of cases been reported in such a short period of time in any Ebola outbreak.” He added that his teams working on the ground were facing conditions that had not yet been able to effectively combat the rapid spread of the epidemic.
According to Dr. Gonzalez, “The truth is that at this time no one is fully aware of the true scale and severity of the epidemic.” New suspected cases are emerging daily, while hundreds of samples have yet to be tested.
Dr. Gonzalez added that efforts to control the epidemic and the delivery of humanitarian aid are being delayed by “major obstacles,” including the closure of borders and airports.
On the other hand, the World Health Organization has repeatedly warned that the ongoing armed conflict in the Republic of Congo is also severely affecting operations against the Ebola epidemic and is a major obstacle to efforts to stop the spread of the virus.
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