Agencies are on high alert amid reports that the rapidly spreading Ebola Bundibugyo virus species in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has infected 19 internally displaced people, killed five of them, according to the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR).
On Friday, UNHCR confirmed that at least five of the Ituri province’s 69 displacement camps have reported Ebola cases, compounding what is already a devastating outbreak.
Local authorities report that there have been almost 4,000 cases of Ebola and and more than 1,800 deaths – centered on Ituri – since the outbreak was declared on 15 May.
UNHCR stressed that no cases have been reported among refugees or asylum-seekers, which could threaten transmission beyond the DRC.
Still, the virus is overwhelming response efforts currently, according to World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“We all agree that we must urgently and massively scale up all our efforts across all pillars of the response and by all partners,” Tedros tweeted while visiting the capital, Kinshasa.
Ebola virus reaches displacement camps in DR Congo | UN News
(UN News)
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