United Nations Secretary-General Guterres stated on the 27th that the international community's attention to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is insufficient, and called for an immediate strengthening of the epidemic response.
He said that humanity has the ability to contain the Ebola outbreak, but what now needs to be overcome is another kind of “virus”: indifference. Currently, international attention, political focus, and resource allocation all lag behind the development of the epidemic.
He stated that as of August 25, the DRC had confirmed 5,713 Ebola cases with 2,744 deaths. The epidemic is spreading on a large scale at a rate of about 500 new cases per week, with women and children bearing the brunt.
He said there is insufficient funding and operational support in response to the Ebola outbreak. Of the $2.13 billion (about 8.58 billion ringgit) required to meet humanitarian needs and epidemic response in the DRC, as launched by the United Nations, less than half of the funds have been received. The international community has the knowledge, means, and resources to contain the Ebola outbreak. Now is the time to show collective resolve and take action, or else the cost may be even greater.
The DRC declared an Ebola outbreak on May 15. WHO experts said on the 26th that the current round of the Ebola outbreak in the DRC remains very active, and a turning point has yet to appear.
Uganda Outbreak Declared Over
The WHO Regional Office for Africa issued a news release on the 27th, announcing that the current outbreak of Bundibugyo Ebola virus in Uganda is officially over, with both the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention welcoming the development.
The news release noted that the last Ebola patient in Uganda was discharged after completing treatment on July 16, and there have been no new confirmed cases reported in the country for 42 consecutive days. Forty-two days is equivalent to twice the maximum incubation period of the Ebola virus, and completion of this monitoring period marks a key milestone.
According to WHO standards, a country can only declare an outbreak over if, from the time the last confirmed patient is no longer infectious, there are no new confirmed cases for 42 consecutive days.
The latest Ebola outbreak in Uganda broke out on May 15. A patient from eastern DRC entered the country and was confirmed to be infected with the Bundibugyo Ebola virus. Uganda reported a total of 20 confirmed cases in this round, including 15 imported cases from the DRC and 5 locally transmitted cases, with 2 deaths in total.