WHO headquarters in Geneva, May 2007 file, not outbreak scene. © Yann Forget; perspective/tonal correction by Jacek Halicki / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0, further cropped; image remains under this license).
Violence is disrupting the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo even as Kenya discharged its final patient and began a 42-day countdown to being declared Ebola-free, the World Health Organization said in a briefing dated November 11.
Almost 11,000 confirmed cases and more than 5,300 deaths have been reported across eight provinces in the DRC, according to the WHO Director-General’s opening remarks. Almost 3,000 people have recovered, and transmission is slowing in some areas, but new hotspots are emerging elsewhere.
WHO said an attack on Cantine-Aloya last week killed 66 civilians, including three health workers, while three health facilities were looted and burned. More than 1,000 contacts have been lost to follow-up and three confirmed cases are unaccounted for, the briefing said.
The organization warned that insecurity restricts access, disrupts operations and makes it harder to reach communities. Displacement, difficult terrain, rainy weather and delays in paying frontline workers add to the pressure. The response is expanding but is not yet large enough to rapidly identify and treat every case and trace every contact, WHO said.
Kenya has reported nine cases linked to an imported case from the DRC, including two deaths. WHO said Kenya discharged its final patient Wednesday and began the 42-day countdown. The countdown is a step toward an Ebola-free declaration, not a declaration that the outbreak has ended.
WHO called for safe humanitarian access, protection for health workers and facilities, faster expansion of the response and timely pay for frontline workers. It also urged countries to lift blanket travel restrictions, saying targeted, evidence-based health measures are more effective.
JBizNews Desk | Geneva
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