World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a press conference in Geneva on Wednesday, said the Ebola virus in central Africa has had a “big head-start” and warned that health authorities were still behind.
Tedros: ‘We need to move faster’
Tedros had just returned from visiting Ituri Province in eastern DR Congo, which is the epicenter of the outbreak. Tedros said authorities are “catching up” and said he was “very encouraged by the level of commitment I saw everywhere I went” in Ituri Province.
At the same time, Tedros said the virus is still ahead, and “we need to move faster.”
The virus is also present in the North and South Kivu Provinces in DR Congo and in neighboring Uganda.
The outbreak is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. This variety of Ebola has no medication or vaccine.
In DR Congo, 344 cases have been confirmed since the outbreak began in mid-May with 60 deaths.
The number of suspected cases in DR Congo stands at 166, a decline from 906.
Health authorities are working to develop a cure for the Bundibugyo strain and are rushing to improve testing capacity along with isolating contacts of affected individuals in affected regions.
Kenyan health minister defends US quarantine center project
Meanwhile, the Ebola crisis has caused political controversy on other parts of the continent.
The US government has decided to build a quarantine facility at a base in Kenya, angering Kenyans who believe their country is being exploited by a foreign power. The facility would be used to isolate Americans who had visited DR Congo.
The facility has been met with protests by Kenyans and a court order has even blocked the project.
Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale, however, said on Wednesday that the isolation center would proceed.
“Quarantine is not only for Americans,” Duale told Kenyan Parliament. “Even Kenyans will be isolated at the facility.”
“Laikipia airbase is one of the 23 quarantine isolation centers we are building. And we will not stop it,” he continued.
The US Embassy in Nairobi has said it was “working with the Kenyan government to resolve any objections” due to the court order.
Reuters reported, citing flight data and officials, that at least 20 flights have landed at the base where the US quarantine facility is being built. Medical specialists, physicians, engineers, lab experts and construction workers landed at the base, but no patients have arrived there.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
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