More than 750 deaths from Ebola in Congo: the World Health Organization warned of infections of unknown origin

The outbreak that has affected the Congolese territory since May, according to the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention“it is the fastest growing on the continent.”

“Perhaps the most alarming finding is that many of the recently reported deaths correspond to people who died in their communities, without ever reaching a health center and without receiving care,” said the Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, Chikwe Ihekweazuafter passing through Bunia, one of the cities most affected by the disease.

In the same sense, the representative of the health organization stressed that “80% of new cases is not in the contact lists, so we “they arrive from unknown transmission chains”.

A key factor at this point, he emphasized, is that People who die outside the health system cannot be isolated“nor can their contacts be quickly traced, which increases the risk of further transmission.” The official pointed out that, in this context, “outbreak continues to outpace response efforts”.

Until this Monday, they were counted more than 2,000 cases and 754 deaths in three Congolese provinces due to the Bundibugyo virus, according to local authorities. In addition, infections were confirmed in neighboring Uganda.

In this scenario, Ihekweazu stated that the situation is “extremely worrying” in Bunia, where the treatment capacity is now close to 800 beds and the laboratory capacity went from 1 to 14. However, he insisted that despite the efforts made, they have not yet managed to catch up in the race to this pathology.

The outlook is even more complicated by the financing problems facing the health system and attacks on health centers, as well as distrust in local communities. Even workers at a center for the treatment of the virus went on strike over a salary dispute, a factor that further aggravates a situation that they cannot contain.

The country’s authorities declared a new Ebola outbreak on May 15after the disease had spread for several weeks without being detected. Meanwhile, clinical trials of the treatment began last week, after researchers launched a study in hopes of combating the virus.