WHO EXPRESS WORRY OVER EBOLA OUTBREAK IN DR CONGO

September 25, 2018

Read Time:57 Second

By Joseph Omoniyi
The World Health Organization, WHO, has said on Tuesday that an Ebola outbreak in the north-easter part of Democratic Republic of Congo could worsen rapidly because of attacks by armed groups, community resistance and the geographic spread of the disease.
According to reports by Reuters, Attacks by armed opposition groups had increased in severity and frequency, especially those attributed to the Alliance of Democratic Forces, most dramatically an attack that killed 21 in the city of Beni, where WHO’s operation is based.
Reuters reported that, at least 100 people had died in the outbreak, out of 150 cases in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. The response was at a critical juncture, and although the weekly number of new cases has fallen from about 40 to about 10 in the past few weeks and more than 11,700 people have been vaccinated, there were major obstacles ahead.
WHO’s Head of Emergency response, Peter Salama who spoke with a news conference in Geneva, said, “We are now extremely concerned that several factors may be coming together over the next weeks and months to create a potential perfect storm.”