The World Health Organization is cautiously optimistic about the progress of the Ebola response in Democratic Republic of Congo after 90 percent of people at risk in the city of Mbandaka were vaccinated, a senior WHO official said on Tuesday.
Peter Salama, WHO Deputy Director-General for Emergency Preparedness and Response, said more than 400 potential Ebola contacts had been vaccinated.
Although he could not say for certain the city had been safeguarded, he was cautiously optimistic, and there had been no explosive increase in cases.
He also said he hoped to get government approval within days to use five experimental drugs to treat Ebola patients, in a clinical trial which could lay the groundwork for more rapid treatments in future outbreaks.
Congo’s vaccination campaign, which began in Mbandaka last week, is targeting more than 1,000 health workers and contacts of the sick in three health zones.
Amid worries of the spread of Ebola, several schools in the Iboko health zone, about 180 kilometers (112 miles) southeast of Mbandaka, have been closed, according to reports by U.N.-backed Radio Okapi.
Many residents in one of the Iboko localities told Radio Okapi that they prefer to stay at home to avoid infection, following the death of a woman who had Ebola in the nearby Bobala area.
One resident said that what they first thought were rumors were becoming reality with the death and that they were very scared to interact. Four confirmed Ebola deaths have taken place in the Iboko health zone, according to Congo’s health ministry.
Several heads of schools in the area also said they would suspend school activities to protect the children.
This is Congo’s ninth Ebola outbreak since 1976.
