World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news conference in Geneva that there has been a “major outbreak” of the Ebola virus in Central Africa and warned that health officials were still lagging behind.
Tedros: ‘We need to move fast’
Tedros had just returned from visiting Ituri province in eastern DR Congo, the epicenter of the epidemic. Tedros said officials were “catching up” and said he was “very encouraged by the level of commitment wherever he went in Ituri province”.
At the same time, Tedros said the virus is still ahead, and “we need to move fast.”
The virus is also present in the North and South Kivu provinces of DR Congo and neighboring Uganda.
The outbreak is being caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. There is no medicine or vaccine for this type of Ebola.
In DR Congo, 344 cases have been confirmed since the outbreak began in mid-May with 60 deaths.
The number of suspected cases in DR Congo has decreased from 906 to 166.
Health officials are working to develop a treatment for the Bundibugyo strain and to isolate contacts of affected individuals as well as improve testing capacity.
Kenyan health minister defends US quarantine center project
Meanwhile, the Ebola crisis has sparked political controversy in other parts of the continent.
The US government has decided to build a quarantine facility on a base in Kenya, angering Kenyans who believe their country is being exploited by a foreign power. The facility will be used to isolate Americans visiting DR Congo.
The facility has faced opposition from Kenyans and a court order has even blocked the project.
However, Kenya’s Health Minister Aiden Duale said on Wednesday that the isolation center would go ahead.
“Quarantine is not just for Americans,” Duale told the Kenyan parliament. “Even Kenyans will be isolated in the facility.”
He added, “Laikipia Airbase is one of the 23 quarantine isolation centers that we are building. And we will not stop.”
The US Embassy in Nairobi said it was “working with the Kenyan government to resolve any objections” to the court order.
At least 20 flights have landed at the base where a US quarantine facility is being built, Reuters reported, citing flight data and officials. Medical experts, doctors, engineers, laboratory experts and construction workers descended on the base, but no patients arrived.
Edited by: Zack Crellin
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