Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director-General Jean Kaseya and World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus plan to visit the epicentre of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) next week. The visit is part of a joint mission to speed up the outbreak response. Discussions in Geneva, Switzerland, between the heads of the two organizations focused on the Bundibugyo Ebola virus outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, stressing the need for urgent action on the ground.
“We agreed to travel together to Bunia on July 18 and 19 to meet national authorities, frontline health workers, affected communities, and response partners,” stated Jean Kaseya, the Africa CDC chief. The joint mission aims to enhance coordination, expedite the response, and rally the necessary support to halt transmission and save lives. Kaseya emphasized the importance of finding cases earlier, conducting faster tests, ensuring safe isolation, providing patient care, protecting health workers, and fostering community engagement to combat the Ebola outbreak effectively.
Haut-Uele province in northeastern DRC has officially become the fourth province affected by the current Ebola outbreak in the country. The declaration followed the confirmation of seven fatal cases of Bundibugyo Ebola in the Wamba health zone. Governor Jean Bakomito Gambu of Haut-Uele province declared the Ebola outbreak after the National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB) verified the cases.
In a recent interview, Jean Kaseya stressed the need for increased international solidarity to combat the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in Africa. He highlighted the importance of swift diagnosis, thorough contact tracing, expanded treatment and isolation capacities, and adequate supplies in the response efforts.
