The rapid spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has become "deeply alarming," according to Médecins Sans Frontières, as the World Health Organization's chief visited the epicenter of the outbreak.
More than 1,000 suspected cases and at least 246 deaths have now been recorded in the DR Congo, with nine confirmed cases and one death in neighboring Uganda. MSF Deputy Director Dr. Alan Gonzalez said never before had an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration, emphasizing that containment efforts have not kept pace with the virus's rapid spread.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in Ituri province on Saturday to oversee containment. He urged communities to play a larger role in fighting the disease, warning that traditional funeral practices involving touching bodies of Ebola victims could spread the virus further. A new laboratory in Bunia now returns test results within 24 hours, a significant improvement from the previous 1,500km journey to Kinshasa. This outbreak involves a rare strain of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, which has no proven vaccine and kills about one-third of those infected.