The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, traveled on Saturday (30) to the Congolese province most affected by an Ebola outbreak, warning that the situation has exceeded the global response capacity.
The outbreak – the 17th in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the third largest since the virus was discovered nearly half a century ago – is spreading faster than the international response. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged residents to seek medical care and adopt safe burial practices, while authorities intensify efforts to contain the deadly disease, before traveling to Kinshasa on Thursday (28).
The visit took place as the Government of Brazil announced it was investigating a suspected Ebola case in the state of São Paulo, involving a man who had recently been in the DRC. Authorities said the patient is isolated in a specialized hospital.
After meeting on Friday with the Prime Minister of the DRC, Judith Suminwa Tuluka, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus traveled on Saturday to Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, where the first cases were confirmed in early May.
At a press conference alongside the Congolese Health Minister, Samuel Roger Kamba Mulamba, the WHO representative stated that the rare Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccines or treatments, making early palliative care essential, including isolation, rehydration, and pain control.
“Seeking medical care early makes a real difference,” Ghebreyesus said, also urging the population to adopt safe burial practices, warning that the bodies of Ebola victims remain highly contagious.
“I understand how painful it is to lose someone and how important it is to pay proper tribute,” Ghebreyesus said, stressing that “while we mourn those we have lost, we must do everything possible to ensure we do not lose anyone else.”
Several attacks on health facilities have been reported, as crowds attempted to recover bodies for traditional funerals in which relatives handle corpses without proper protective equipment.
The WHO reported on Friday that 906 suspected Ebola cases have been recorded in the DRC, including 223 suspected deaths still under investigation.
Later, Samuel Roger Kamba revealed that authorities have identified 1,028 suspected cases, of which 225 have been confirmed.
Response has “not kept up” with the spread of the outbreak, medical NGO warns
Health authorities and humanitarian workers say they lack even basic supplies, such as masks, after the outbreak spread undetected for several weeks.
The humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned on Saturday that the response remains insufficient. “Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after being declared,” said Dr. Alan Gonzalez, MSF Deputy Director of Operations.
“Like everyone living in the affected areas, MSF teams are witnessing a response that has not been able to keep up with the rapid spread of the epidemic,” he added.
The WHO also said it has received only about one-third of the funding needed to respond to the crisis.
The Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Jean Kaseya, said some donors are reconsidering their commitments.
Congo insists outbreak is not “out of control”
Ebola cases have been confirmed in three provinces of the DRC and also in neighboring Uganda, which last week closed its border with Congo.
The Congolese Health Minister rejected claims that the outbreak was “out of control,” stating that authorities have sufficient resources for testing needs, despite MSF saying that hundreds of samples remain unprocessed.
He also urged neighboring countries to keep their borders open.
“We have experience in fighting epidemics. We defeated Ebola last year. Trust us, we know what we are doing,” he concluded.
