The deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo can be stopped, the World Health Organization (WHO) head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said as he arrived in Kinsasha.
Tedros landed in the DRC on Thursday evening and was due on Friday to travel to Ituri province in the north-east, where the epidemic is centred.
“That thing can be stopped,” Tedros said, adding that the WHO did not support travel bans to combat the outbreak because they “don’t help much”.
“Together, we will overcome this outbreak,” he said earlier, vowing to do “everything in my power to help you”.
The WHO has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DRC since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases, according to its figures up to 24 May, the latest available.
The true spread of the virus is likely much wider as it is thought to have circulated under the radar for some time, the WHO has warned.
This is the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in the big central African country, which has a population of more than 100 million people.
Complicating medical relief efforts, the epidemic is centred in a mineral-rich region fought over by armed groups. “Conflict and displacement make everything harder,” Tedros said. “I am making a direct appeal to all warring parties in this region: please, declare a ceasefire.
“No cause, no conflict, no grievance is worth condemning innocent people to death from a preventable disease.”
No vaccine or treatment yet exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola causing the current outbreak. The WHO said on Thursday that its advisory groups had recommended clinical trials for vaccines and treatments.
The head of the African Union’s health agency, Jean Kaseya, said on Thursday that a vaccine should be ready by the end of the year.
Neighbouring Uganda, with one recorded death from Ebola and six additional cases, announced it was shutting its border with the DRC with immediate effect.
The US said it would deny entry to anyone infected and was working to open a treatment facility for affected US citizens in Kenya. A Kenyan rights group has gone to court seeking to limit operations at any such facility, while health officials have warned it could burden Kenya’s stretched health system.
Ebola has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years. The deadliest outbreak in the DRC claimed nearly 2,300 lives out of 3,500 cases between 2018 and 2020.
The WHO said it had received 4.6 tonnes of aid at the airport in Bunia, capital of Ituri province, while Unicef, the UN children’s agency, said it was sending 100 tonnes of aid to the DRC.
