My latest: The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, already the seventh largest in history, is on the verge of spinning out of control, according to the @WHO 1/9
huffingtonpost.com/entry/ebola-dr…
huffingtonpost.com/entry/ebola-dr…
The outbreak, which started @MinSanteRDC tells me after a man in Mabalako found an infected dead cat and brought it back home to eat it, is facing a turning point. Political instability has led to rioting and suspicion of government forces, which has sidelined health workers 2/9
The response is being paused in an epicenter of Beni for a week -- an eternity in outbreak control. And one contact known to have Ebola is in a red zone -- inaccessible to health care responders and potentially spreading the disease. 3/9
"As the days go on, if we do see unsafe burials that can't be responded to, if we do see symptomatic people that can't be accessed -- we can see this situation deteriorating really quickly" @PeteSalama said in today's UN briefing 4/9
Salama told me he expects this outbreak to continue for several months -- necessitating another round of investment from donors and countries around the world 5/9
″[The WHO] has no security force to enable it to operate in a conflict zone or where responders might be at risk. And it lacks the political stature to try to tamp down the ability of local leaders to play politics with a dangerous disease.” @RonaldKlain added. 6/9
And on top of that, misinformation by local politicians is threatening the safety of the response. @MinSanteRDC stressed that years of rebel attacks “have created palpable mistrust towards all outsiders, especially public authorities and international organizations.” 7/9
While the @WHO , @theIRC and @MSF all told @HuffPost they have no current plans to withdraw, such security risks are being actively monitored. A withdrawal of international assistance would be devastating to controlling the outbreak, @PeteSalama said. 8/9
“The amount of outbreaks DRC has had this year is unprecedented not only for DRC but also for any country in the world,” @MinSanteRDC “This really demonstrates the importance of investing more in improving and strengthening the overall health system” 9/9 huffingtonpost.com/entry/ebola-dr…
