The fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda is outpacing response efforts, bringing the latest number of suspected deaths to 220, the World Health Organization’s director-general said on Monday.
Addressing an online meeting of the African Union on the outbreak, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said delays in detecting Ebola cases meant responders were now “playing catch-up” and the epidemic was likely to get worse before it improved.
Tedros said he would travel to Congo – the epicenter of the outbreak – on Tuesday with another senior WHO official responsible for handling health emergencies, Chikwe Ihekweazo.
Earlier on Monday, neighboring Uganda reported two new cases of Ebola, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to seven, and Tedros said other countries bordering Congo were at high risk and must take immediate action.
The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus a public health emergency of international concern.
Tedros said containing the rapid outbreak was complicated by the fact that Congo’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces are largely unsafe and the lack of approved vaccines for the Bundibugyo virus.
