WHO director to set foot in Ebola-hit Congo
y Syriacus Buguzi @buguzi sbuguzi@thecitizen.co.tz
Dar es Salaam. This weekend, the World Health Organisation’s Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is expected to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)to take stock of the situation following an Ebola outbreak.
A broad range of experts, including those from WHO, alongsidethose from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)—Doctors Without Borders—are in DRC working with the government to contain an outbreak of Ebola in Bikoro Equator Province. The outbreak was declared three days ago.
WHO says that byMay 11, more than 34 Ebola cases had been reported in the area in the past five weeks, 18 people had died in the outbreak while there were 14 suspected cases.
Dr Tedros said in a statement that the WHO staff were in the team that first identified the outbreak. “I myself am on my way to the DRC to assess the needs first-hand,’’ he noted, as per details collected from the WHO media centre.
“I’m in contact with the Minister of Health and have assured him that we’re ready to do all that’s needed to stop the spread of Ebola quickly. We are working with our partners to send more staff, equipment and supplies to the area, added Dr Tedros.
Two days ago, the governmentof Tanzania said it would step up surveillance against Ebola to keep away the viral disease from entering the country through porous borders.
The minister for Health Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, MsUmmyMwalimu told a press conference in Dodoma that Tanzania had received an official report on the outbreak of Ebola in DRC.
“We must strengthen our border surveillance. The fact that no case has ever been reported in our country, doesn’t mean we are safe,’’ she stressed.
This is the ninth time DRC is experiencing an Ebola outbreak since 1976 when the deadly viral disease was first identified in then Zaire by a Belgian-led team.
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