«"The Ebola epidemic is progressing exponentially. The epidemic is spreading widely: it now covers an area larger than France."», Mr. Harneis said from Bunia (DRC) during a press conference in Geneva (Switzerland). «"Its spread outpaces the speed of our response; it is intensifying and expanding faster than the efforts deployed across the region,", Mr. Harneis emphasized.
Declared on May 15, this epidemic has surpassed in just three months that of 2018-2020 in the east of the DRC, considered until then to be the deadliest in the country's history (2,299 deaths out of 3,381 confirmed cases, according to figures from the World Health Organization based on data from the Congolese authorities).
Furthermore, in three months, seven times more cases and five times more deaths have been recorded in the DRC than during the first three months of the largest Ebola epidemic in history, which claimed more than 11,300 lives in West Africa between 2014 and 2016, according to the African Union's health agency (Africa CDC). Ebola, which is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and causes hemorrhagic fever, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.
A «"Risk for neighboring countries"»
There is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is causing the current outbreak, but clinical trials are underway and 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine, licensed against Zaire, another strain of the virus, have been sent to the DRC to assess its impact on Bundibugyo. The underfunded response has been criticized for its slowness and lack of organization and is facing distrust from a segment of the population.
The UN coordinator also noted that 43 health workers had died from the virus and that others had been targeted in attacks, including on board ambulances or in health facilities. «"Public order has been disrupted and basic services, particularly healthcare, have been fragmented. The conditions for intervention are extremely difficult."», He recalled that a myriad of armed groups are active in the regions affected by the epidemic, complicating access to populations.
«"This epidemic continues to spread, at a rate that the response is unable to keep up with."», Javid Abdelmoneim, international president of the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF), confirmed this in a statement released in Geneva. Mr. Harneis also pointed to the need to intensify the response, insisting that «If we increase staffing and deliver more resources to remote areas in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, we can, within a few months, slow transmission and even bring it to an end.» «If we don’t, this epidemic will become more deadly. It will spread further and risks spreading to neighboring countries.», he warned.
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