With at least 61 lives lost and 103 cases confirmed in the new Ebola outbreak, it is now emerging that a doctor in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been hospitalized with Ebola and 97 of his contacts have been identified in an area almost entirely surrounded by armed militia, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
While addressing the press, Dr Peter Salama the World Health organization Deputy Director general for emergency preparedness and response revealed ‘‘It is the first time we have a confirmed case and contacts in an area of high insecurity. It is really the problem we were anticipating and at same time dreading’’
The town of Oicha is almost entirely surrounded by ADF Ugandan Islamist militia, there are “extremely serious security concerns”, he said, adding that the group held hostages.
This comes after the DRC’s health ministers approved four experimental treatments against the life-threatening virus on Thursday in a desperate attempt to contain the outbreak in the violence-torn east, which borders Uganda.
Virologists have warned the situation is ‘hard to control’ due to cases being in a conflict zone roamed by armed militias.
