The World Health Organization on Friday issued a warning that around 360 people are at potential risk of Ebola after contact with an infected person in eastern Congo as many of them are out of reach due to violent clashes and insecurity among civilians, reported Reuters.
D. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, appealed to the government to enable aid workers to access several areas where there is a chance of the deadly virus of spreading.
At least 19 people were killed in attacks by Islamist militiamen in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The attacks were carried out in response to a military campaign against them in border areas with Uganda.
During a news briefing, Ryan said that although only 7 cases of Ebola were recorded in the past week, it was unable to eradicate the deadly virus due to insecurity.
“The difficulty we collectively face at the moment is just when we need that unlimited and unfettered access to communities we have lost that access in key areas,” he added. “This is a very dangerous and alarming development.”
Ryan said a male driver, who visited three health care centres, died of Ebola in Oicha, North Kivu province and that many other drivers had handled his body at the funeral.
“That one case has generated over 360 contacts – which is a large number of contacts for any case. We know that person was highly infectious at the moment of death. That is why we are so concerned,” Ryan said.
He said that at least 62 of the 200 people who came in contact with the Ebola-infected driver in Oicha were at extremely high risk, but aid workers had only located 19 of them. 159 people went to Kalunguta where most were being monitored.
According to the latest data, 3,298 Ebola cases have been detected until now out of which 2,195 have died since the outbreak was declared in August 2018.
