Ebola outbreak: WHO chief Tedros warns response is still behind as cases rise in Congo and Uganda
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the world is now slowly catching up with the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has already spread widely before response efforts fully scaled up, as per the Reuters report. So far, there have been 344 confirmed Ebola cases and 60 confirmed deaths in the DRC, showing the outbreak is still serious.
WHO chief Tedros warns about outbreaks
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak “had a big head start” and even though progress is being made, health teams are still behind the virus. He also said that under the leadership of the DRC government, global health teams are now trying to catch up and control the spread more effectively. The outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, which has also crossed borders into Uganda, as cited in the report by Reuters.
In Uganda, 15 cases have been confirmed, and there has been 1 death, showing the outbreak is not limited to one country. WHO said testing has improved, and because of better testing, many earlier suspected Ebola cases have now been ruled out. Officials explained that common Ebola tests do not properly detect the Bundibugyo strain, which created delays and a backlog of samples.
Lab tests and backlog cleared
WHO emergency operations director Abdirahman Mahamud said lab teams have completed 1,445 tests, helping clear almost all the backlog of old suspected cases, as mentioned by Reuters report. He also said there are still 116 suspected cases waiting for testing, and teams are also reviewing 220 suspected deaths to confirm if Ebola caused them.
On the positive side, 6 people have recovered in the DRC and 2 in Uganda, showing recovery is possible with early treatment and care. WHO warned that response efforts are still facing problems, especially in scaling up testing and tracing contacts, while some travel restrictions are also disrupting supply chains and slowing response work.
Tedros said only about 45% of contacts are being traced, but to control the outbreak properly, this number must go above 90%, as noted in the report by Reuters. He added that the outbreak may have started as early as January, but investigations are still ongoing, and the main focus now is stopping further spread.
Funding and response plan
WHO emergencies head Chikwe Ihekweazu said the response will cost at least $115 million over the next three months, and only about 35% of the funding is currently available. He also said more funding will be needed for the full response plan to work properly and control the outbreak. A wider fundraising and response plan will be launched on Friday with partners including the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the governments of the DRC and Uganda.