Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) said at a press conference in Geneva that with concerted efforts and coordination, the response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is catching up.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who just returned from a visit to the DRC, said on Wednesday (local time) that he was very encouraged by the level of commitment he saw in the country. “What I saw gave me hope, although challenges remain.”
Tedros said that in the DRC, 344 cases have been confirmed, including 60 deaths, in 24 health zones across three provinces, while the number of suspected cases has been reduced to 116 from over 1,000 last week, reports Xinhua news agency.
Tedros said WHO’s risk assessment remains unchanged: very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level. “The outbreak had a big head start, and we’re still behind, but under the leadership of the Government of DRC, we are catching up,” he said.
Nonetheless, Tedros noted several challenges, which include scaling up laboratory and diagnostic capacity to reduce delays in case confirmation and support faster response decisions, contact tracing in the DRC, travel restrictions that are disrupting supply chains and hindering the response, community mistrust, and the fact that there are currently no licensed vaccines or specific therapeutics for the Bundibugyo ebolavirus strain.
Meanwhile, a patient infected with Ebola virus disease was discharged on Wednesday in Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), after being declared recovered by medical teams.
The recovery brought relief to the patient’s family, who said they had gone through days of anxiety and uncertainty.
“We are very happy. Her illness worried us deeply. Since she was hospitalised, none of us could go to work. We were all anxious,” said Kavira Kazadi, a family member of the patient.
The DRC government said on Tuesday that, as of Monday, six patients have recovered from Ebola, with 344 confirmed cases, including 60 deaths.
Also ReadWHO chief says Ebola outbreak in DR Congo complicated by conflict, insecurity
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders said on Monday that the Ebola response in North Kivu is being organised around systems already put in place during previous epidemics. In Goma, an Ebola treatment centre with 80 beds has been set up, and the first patients have been admitted, according to the organisation.
Goma, a major city in eastern DRC, has been under the control of the March 23 Movement rebel group since early 2025. Access to parts of North Kivu has remained difficult amid the continued insecurity.
The WHO said on Wednesday that it remains present in the Kivu region despite the security and access challenges in parts of eastern DRC.
“We have never left Kivu,” said Mohamed Yakub Janabi, WHO regional director for Africa, in response to a question on access to North Kivu and Goma.
The WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on May 17. The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
–IANS
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